Attack on titan in real life: a new world
by Wall Maria's time master
Summary: Life's going badly for Lucas, his parents are gone, and he's constantly being picked on at school. So far, his plan has been to suck it up and just carry on. But that plan's about to change, especially when a group of young cadets and seasoned veterans arrive ready to turn his world around, hopefully for the better. Eremika, Yumikuri, Jeanmarco, and Levipetra.
1. From unusual beginnings

Chapter one: From unusual beginnings.

 **A/N: Just a heads up for those coming back to this story, I've changed the perspective from first to third person, and changed the structure to present tense. Hope that isn't a problem, it was just annoying me a lot.**

In price academy, on a sunny June's afternoon a bell rang loudly throughout the corridors, shattering the silence as it told the school's children that classes were finally over. Some cheered, some laughed out loud, and hell some even kissed!

Except for Lucas Tanner. He instead just went straight to his locker and grabbed all the essentials, getting ready to walk home without making a big deal of it. They were only getting one week off from school anyway so he wasn't letting himself become too excited. And it wasn't like he had anything planned in the meantime; no holidays, no road trips and no going to the seaside. He figured it would be one long boring week of sitting alone at home.

He sighed heavily as other students continued to rush past him, itching to get home to their flatscreens and play more video games. That again wasn't the case for him though. Lucas dreaded going home, more than he ever did with leaving for school. It wasn't his home specifically that the teen hated, but what was guaranteed to be waiting for him should he try and get there. The local bullies usually prepared for him on the way back, making his journey home a living hell. Then again it wasn't exactly unusual to get bullied at school, at least not for him anyway.

It was almost like a routine at that point; every week the same day in day out. Like clockwork. Monday's math class' were a constant barrage of spitwads, Tuesday's lunch got thrown in the trash (or sometimes thrown in the rain if the weather was bad). The Wednesday's and Thursday's usually went ok, partly because his tormentors ended up skiving school on those days. But the Friday's were easily the worst. Much worse than any of the rest.

It always went the same: a long walk home after English class, being forced into some back alley halfway there, and having his body treated like a punching bag. And sometimes, like a pinata. He still sported bruises from the last time they'd brought a bat. He also had an unusual way of coping. Simply by watching anime, specifically one called 'attack on Titan'. If after a bad day at school, a rough beating or hell even when he was just feeling that little bit down, he could just watch attack on Titan and it cheered him up. It had continued to crack a smile for two years running.

The teen could always imagine it. Soaring through the air, ODM gear strapped to his waist, slicing the nape of every Titan that dared cross his path along with the survey corps. Though the character he ended up fantasizing the most about was easily Sasha, it was no secret amongst his friends that he held a huge cyber crush over her. Almost everyone knew it at that point, which was partly why the teen never made any friends. They saw him as different. So they keep him different.

That being said he did have friends. Mind you only two, but two was all he needed. Coincidently, he began to hear a very fast, and very familiar, set of feet coming his way. Lucas glanced up to look in the direction of the sounds and saw that Alex was dashing through the corridors at top speed! The skinny young woman dashed forward as her long red hair flowed behind.

Behind her was, no surprise, their mutual friend Harry who was struggling to keep up as his asthma continued to hold him back. Until eventually they arrived at Lucas' side, Alex coming to a sudden stop while her companion looked ready to drop into a coma.

 _"Hey Lucas, we've gotta hang out tonight. I wanna celebrate our freedom!"_

Alex very nearly shouted, obviously thrilled that school was finally out. Since the group had first met she'd always been very excitable and became jumpy at the idea of them all hanging out together over the half-term break. Harry had decided, of course, to side with her. He'd gained a massive crush on Alex over the years, but so far had failed to say anything of it. Because of this, and the fact he did actually want to spend time with the two, he said:

 _"It would be a good idea to get together sometime. It has been a while since we hung out, just us three."_

He lightly panted out, as his lungs were still wheezing heavily due to his asthma. Somehow, they'd always been different in that regard; asthmatic rejects who watched anime. Then again, why would they care? To them, the schools' opinion was about as encouraging as a white flag on a battlefield.

As Lucas thought back to the issue at hand, he continued to feel more and more conflicted. Secretly, the teen had always agreed with his friends about getting together again. Though was still very unsure about how the whole thing would go. Knowing Alex it would have to be that night, her patience being a centimeter long.

 _"You've convinced me, we'll hang out"_

He said, hoping it sounded more confident than he actually feel. The response to that is a massive cheer of triumph from Alex, loud enough for the whole school to hear. Causing a few eyes to glance over towards the strange group.

 _"I'll-see-you-later-at-your-house-at-around-about-seven-i'll-bring-my-playlist-round-see-yah!"_

She shouted, with large volume and an unrecognisable speed as she ran to try and catch her bus. The teen had guessed right about when she'd want to hang out, after all the time they'd been together she could still never wait for anything.

 _"Well, I guess I'll see you then. Bye Lucas!"_

Harry said as he began to follow a still sprinting Alex. He tried to run, but could only manage a tired jog.

Several minutes later Lucas left the school grounds, now exposed to the burning sunlight coming down hard thought it made little difference to him; with both headphones on and only a short distance between him and home the weather soon became the least of his concerns.

Said headphones soon become clamped around his ears, just as he passed the 15 meter stone Shakespeare statue on the way out. He still couldn't work out why the school had ever bought that, as the establishement itself was very small holding only two hundered or so students and ten teachers. Not to mention when it came to creative thinking, 95% of them were as useful as chocolate fireguards.

Sometimes Lucas thought a statue of the armored titan would be much better. _'It would be infinitly cooler and a hundered times more accurate in describing the schools population.'_ The teen thought to himself, a small smirk forming before falling away as quickly as it had appeared.

He stopped focusing on that, and instead, started to think about the coming night. The decision about agreeing to a get-together was quite unusual for Lucas, but he'd decided that during his week off the teen would try and change a bit. For the better. At that point almost three months had passed since his dad had died, and his widow mother sent into permanent therapy. He'd grieved for them, cried a river of tears almost every night, but now he thought that grieving had gone on long enough. Not only that, but he'd started to miss hanging out with his friends. He could instantly tell that Alex was worried about him from the fact that she'd waited so long to ask about hanging out. She'd been patient the last few months, which was really far from normal! Harry had been especially worried, evident from the amount of calls and texts Lucas had mostly elected to ignore.

 _'I can tell they've made an effort to wait, so I owe it to them to try and be my old self for once.'_ Lucas thought to himself, before he started playing his music at random. Walking home as imagine dragons blasted into his ears.

He keep going for about twenty minutes, letting his imagination run wild to the music. And after a while of walking home, his legs starting to feel heavy, the teen realized that he was only about two blocks away from where his brains were bashed in. An alleyway, though it was often the site of his scheduled beat down, was the quickest way home. Cutting the journey down by 10 minutes. So he took off his headphones and stopped listening to music. That day, he'd decided on trying to fight back. It had taken him long enough to stop trading blow for blow with his guilt, and it was about time he threw a few punches of his own. He thrust himself straight into the back-alley, braced for a fight.

But after hearing a strange high-tech noise, the dime a dozen sound you'd hear on star trek, he felt himself run straight into something, or rather, someone. As he started picking himself back up from the hard ground, the dazed student started to see exactly who he'd just collided with. A young teen, around about the same age as him, with brown hair and emerald eyes. He was wearing a plain brown shirt and brown trousers, with belts all across his body. But what stood out the most was his jacket, or rather, the symbol on it. Two white swords on a grey shield, he immediately recognised it as the symbol of the cadet corps.

 _"Why don't you watch where you're going, moron!"_

The stranger shouted at Lucas, yet the voice and the tone it carried sounded so... familiar.

 _"Eren, you need to stay calm. We don't know what's going on right now, so we need to try and keep a clear head."_

 _'Wait, Eren? Who just called him Eren?'_ Lucas wondered, the voice itself had sounded like a young woman's, judging from its pitch and volume, but a lot more calm than the guy he'd collided with.

Lucas stood up and started to see more of the full picture. Standing next to the teen he ran into, there were two others beside him, another boy and a girl. The boy has curled blond hair and blue eyes, while the girl has short black hair and grey eyes. All three wore the same clothes; straps covering their shirts and pants with a cadet corps jacket each. Except for the girl, who was wearing a bright red scarf across her shoulders.

The brown-haired guy reached his feet and started to walk over, bearing a less serious and annoyed look on his face then after Lucas had first run into him.

 _"Sorry about that, I can see it was an accident now. I didn't mean to freak out like that. Could you do us a favour and tell us whereabouts we are?"_

The boy he'd started to presume was Eren said, in a much calmer tone than beforehand.

Not a word escaped his lips, as the metaphorical penny dropped with a deafening clang. The only thing he was able to do was stare, wide-eyed and confused. All the while his mind kept running in circles wondering one almost chilling thought. _'How the hell did the main characters of attack on titan end up in our world? And what the hell am I supposed to do now?_


	2. A strange arrival

Chapter 2: A strange arrival.

 _"Eren?"_ Lucas said, his mind still shell-shocked by the events unfolding before him. _'These kinds of things just aren't supposed to exist in real life, only in those weird fanfiction novels. I've gotta be dreaming.'_

 _"How do you know my name?"_ Eren said in a confused tone, clearly shocked as to how a stranger knew who he was. But before he could begin to question it further, or for Lucas' mind to continue running in circles, they started to hear a group of footsteps coming from behind Lucas, towards one of the alley's exits. One set of feet in particular were very loud, pounding against the ground like an athlete dropping weights.

 _"Hey, Pukas, it looks like you're here early for once! How about we let you choose today. What would you prefer, the steel bat or the lead pipe?"_ Lucas heard a voice shouted at him, realizing at that point what his overtaxed mind should have realized much earlier. It was time for a break, which also meant the bullies would want to kick off their weekend with a beating.

The teen turned around to see who was there, and it wasn't a surprise to see that James was. The schools head tormentor, the reason why Lucas limped home covered in bruises. He reached a height of around two meters, wearing an undersized pair of blue jeans and a weathered undertaker wrestling shirt.

He had never been that scared of him, as his body was more flab than fight. But the five cronies standing behind him were very strong and very dangerous.

 _"Who the hell are you!?"_

A second voice shouted, causing Lucas to turn around, following the sound's direction before he realized that it was Eren who had just shouted at him. Knowing him and his relations with Jean, a fight was looking near-inevitable. _'But maybe, just maybe-'_

 _"What does it matter to you? Hell, why should I stand around and chat with a couple of Hobbit extra rejects!"_

 _'Nope, he's definitely gonna lose it.'_

 _"I'm no reject. So why don't you back off, and run home before I tear you assholes a new one!"_ Eren shouted loudly, his voice echoing off the alley walls. After a few short tension-filled seconds, James simply raised his hand before his torso and snapped his fingers, causing his cronies to come running straight towards the group. Lucas couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline hit him as his body prepared for a fight.

The first one, Eren knocked back with a strong and solid punch. Courtesy of Annie's gruelling and rather painful training methods. The next two Mikasa dealt with, simply by kicking them in the guts, knocking them down. Lucas rushed in to help Eren, desperate to help as he delivered a strong left uppercut to the bully, knocking him out cold. They had little time to relish in victory, though, as the fight was far from over.

It was the last two thugs that held the most cause for concern, as unlike the others they were both armed. One carrying a steel bat and another brandishing a rusty lead water pipe. Eren rushed in shouting, reckless and angry as always. Mikasa shouted at him to stop, but before he could even consider pulling back the bat-wielding thug brought his crude weapon down on his leg. The impact producing a loud crack as it hits.

After this, Mikasa moved toward the bullies like a lightning bolt. She grabbed the first one, and brutally slammed him into a wall, knocking him out cold with a stream of blood dripping down his face. The second one carrying the bat dropped his tool before trying to run away in fear, but Mikasa made him feel her wrath for ever daring to hurt Eren. She grabbed the discarded lead pipe and threw it straight at his kneecap. His bone audibly shattered like a twig, causing the teen to fall on the ground in pain

James suddenly wore an expression that Lucas had never seen on his face before; fear. He ran away from the group as fast as his slow stubby legs could go, which for an average person held about the velocity of a brisk speedwalk.

 _"Yeah, you bastard. You'd better run!"_ Eren shouts as James ran away (or rather tried to), but suddenly cried out in pain as he clutched his injured leg. From the snap, Lucas theorised it may have broken under the force, or could have just been dislocated.

 _"I'm sorry Eren, I... I should have fought better, tried to be quicker. You got hurt because of me."_ Mikasa said, her eyes full of concern and fear. The look she always held whenever Eren's hurt.

 _"Relax, would yah! It's just my leg, I don't need you to take care of me like some snot-nosed toddler!"_ Eren shouted back at her, turning her look of worry to one of sadness. Tears beginning to lightly line her eyes. While Lucas could empathize him wanting to be independent, as he was like that a lot when his parents were still around, he still couldn't fully understand why he'd never appreciated her properly.

While Mikasa checked Eren's leg, ignoring his protests, Armin came up to Lucas with a slight hint of fear on his face.

 _"Could you take us somewhere to check Eren's leg? It could be broken and we need to find a place for him to go."_

 _"You could come round to my house, it's only about a minute's walk away from here."_

 _"Thanks, I appreciate it... What was your name again?"_

 _"Lucas. Lucas Tanner." He_ said, offering a hand outwards.

 _"Armin." H_ e replied taking it. _"Armin Arlet."_

Lucas couldn't help but wonder as he shook the blondes hand what the hell was he thinking? Inviting the main characters of an anime to your house seemed not only impossible but completely irresponsible. _'What else could I do? They've got no passports, no birth certificates, no records of existence. If someone ends up asking about them, there'll be a lot of unanswerable questions.'_

Then again, Lucas knew that some people would kill to be in his shoes. The chance to meet your heroes doesn't just pop up every day, so it would be wise to try and make the most of it.

* * *

The one minute walk ended up taken four with Eren's possibly broken leg, and although it would have gone by much quicker for Mikasa to carry him, he'd insisted that he walk by himself.

 _"Eren, we're your friends and we understand, so it's alright to occasionally get some help-"_

 _"Guys could you give it up already, I can walk myself!"_

It had been like that pretty much the whole way there. Though Mikasa had appeared a bit more twitchy than usual, because of how different things looked compared to the world they were from. At one point Lucas actually thought Armin had a heart attack when a lorry roared past, its horn causing the group to jump.

 _"What the hell was that!?"_

 _"Just a truck."_

 _"What's a truck?"_

 _"I'll explain when we get to my place."_

 _"Okay then, but are we much farther?"_

 _"It's just down here, about another minute."_

Lucas couldn't even begin to explain how lucky they were being so close to home. Even considering how badly James's 'friends' were hurt, it wouldn't have been too long until they were back on their feet. Staying out much longer would have put himself and the others at risk. There was also the issue of someone finding out the truth about his new found companions.

Granted not everyone knew about the anime, at the end of the day all it would take is a few wrong questions for things to go pear-shaped. Not only that, but Lucas felt like he was constantly seconds away from spilling absolutely everything. It wasn't a good idea to explain stuff like that out in the open, he knew that for certain, but he was just itching to tell them everything about his world! Jungles, glaciers, deserts, the works! But that would all depend on how well they took his explanation.

That they simply shouldn't be real.


	3. Revelations

Chapter 3: Revelations.

 **A/N: I'm planning to manage my stories better now, so you can expect a new story and/or chapter every 2 weeks.**

They finally arrived outside Lucas' house; a three-floor Victorian build painted red and white with two separate gardens, one front and one back. There was also an open garage and a small pool towards the back of the house along with an old moss-covered caravan. The teen had lost his front door keys during the fight so the group was forced to enter the house through the garden.

 _"You_ _can stay here for a while, providing Sarah says it's ok."_ Lucas said to the group as he fought against the rusted gate preventing their entry.

 _"Who's Sarah?"_ Armin asked.

 _"Just my guardian."_ Sarah had become Lucas' carer after his mother had lost her mind, as she'd been her best friend throughout high school and college. Resulting in her becoming the teen's legal guardian in order to try and repay an old debt.

Lucas finally swung open the gate to the garden, and when the Shiganshina trio saw inside their eyes widened, having spent their entire lives away from such alien pleasures. It was a 60x40 meter garden with a glistening swimming pool and a near-derelict garage with the front of a rusting chopper bike poking its way out. There were beautiful flowers planted everywhere in sight, not a single patch of grass uncovered.

"W _hoah... even in wall Sina you never see places like this."_ Armin said, surprised to see a garden holding such wealth and beauty. _"Does everyone here live like this?"_

 _"No, I'm just an exception."_ Lucas replied. While it was true that he had life a lot better off than most kids, he knew at least they didn't have to lose their parents to gain luxury. The boy's father had left behind a small fortune and the house in his will, yet not a single penny to Lucas' mother. It tortured his mind to think that's what drove her mad, more than anything else. Eventually though she was forced into therapy, due to his personal recommendation, and last anyone had heard she was in Germany somewhere.

They walked up to the wooden door, their self-elected guide clasped his hand around the doorknob and twisted it clockwise before the door gave way. Luckily, Sarah had forgotten to lock the back door again on her way out meaning they could get in. The community knew she had a habit of forgetting simple things, but it never affected her too badly. But that meant Lucas always had to be careful when they went out. So, in some ways, they looked after each other. It wasn't just a case of Sarah being a permanent chaperone.

After about five seconds of near-silence, they were finally inside the front room. At that point, Eren had started leaning against Mikasa for support, putting aside his independence in favour of relief for the pain. Lucas led the three into the forward living room, making sure to walk at a pace suitable for Eren and Mikasa. After gesturing for them to go inside, the teen made his way up the stairs into the old study room. It was coated with a layer of dust and cobwebs and had been for several months. The only reason anyone ever went in there anymore was to grab the first aid kit, usually on a Friday afternoon after Lucas' scheduled beat down. But that afternoon was the first time he would have to treat someone else for injuries. Usually, It was him beaten black and blue.

After checking Eren's leg for about two minutes, the group discovered that his leg was just sprained as a result of the fight and not broken. Much to the relief of Mikasa. As Eren shifted to try and get comfier, Lucas sat down on the soft brown couch opposite them with sweating palms and ragged breathing all the while trying to prepare his thoughts to tell them everything.

 _"Now guys, I know that you're probably wondering about some stuff you've seen."_

 _"Wondering!?"_ Eren loudly shouted, showing to the group his forgoing of the pain. _"We've seen guys try to kill us! And being forced into some house in a place we've never seen, surrounded by stuff that looks almost ready to explode! Of course, we're wondering!"_

 _"Eren, you need to try and calm_ _down_."Armin said, hoping that a voice of reason would be enough to deescalate the situation, _"There's_ _gotta be a logical explanation for all this, isn't there Lucas?"_

 _"Well..."_ Lucas hesitated, which he knew wouldn't look good in front of them. It was hard enough trying to be convincing without sounding like he lacked confidence _'Dammit Lucas, stop acting like a damn wimp. For once, I need to at least look confident.'_

 _"what the hell do you mean 'Well...'?! Can you explain, or can't you?"_

 _"Yes, I can."_ He replied, making sure to utilise a less uncertain tone than before. _"It's just... a bit hard to explain, that's all."_

 _"Why's_ _that?"_ Mikasa said, calm as always. She'd been quiet enough the previous few minutes for Lucas to forget she was there.

 _"Mainly because it's just so much to take in."_ Lucas replied, his head still running in circles trying to work out the best way to break it to them. He looked towards the teens as they wore confused expressions before he began. _"Do you guys know where we are right now?"_

 _"No, but If I had to guess from the house and its architecture, somewhere behind wall Sina?"_ Armin guessed, his confident and well thought out answer proving once and for all why most perceived him to be the smartest of the cadets.

 _"Good try, but no. We're actually near Manchester, the northwest of Britain."_ Lucas took a deep breath, playing out several versions of a sentence in order to try and avoid falling over his own words. _"In the year 2017."_

 _"2017!"_ They all said, displaying pure shock and awe in their own ways. Even stoic Mikasa had a face of pure surprise Lucas hadn't seen since... well ever!

 _"Okay, I get that all of this sounds a little confusing, but-"_

 _"A LITTLE!"_ Eren very nearly shouted, like he had been doing for the majority of the conversation. _"You're telling us we're over 1000 years in the future, and it's only 'a little confusing'?!"_

 _"Eren, stop shouting."_ Mikasa said, with a much more demanding tone than Armin had used earlier. Luckily, Eren calmed down after she spoke this. The group hated to think what would happen if Mikasa ended up punching him again, like the last time he lost his cool with a friend.

 _"Okay, now that that's over with, we can focus more on how you guys got here."_ Lucas said, leaning back into a chair I an attempt to ease his nerves.

 _"Why do you want to know how we got here?"_ Armin asked, a suspicious eyebrow raised.

 _"Just so I can understand the situation better."_ While that was partly the truth, Lucas' true goal was to find whereabouts in the series they were untimely plucked from. It would make a big difference if they were from the start of the Trost arc or just beginning training, compared to later on events such as the 57th recon mission or the battle of Stohess.

 _"I don't know how I got here."_ Eren said, calmly (for once!). _"The last thing I remember was being on top of_ _wall rose, thinking about how humanity was finally striking back against the Titans. Then, all I could see was a bright yellow flash, then a bright white flash. Next thing I know, me Armin and Mikasa were standing around in that alley."_

 _'Wait, hang on. Wall Rose? A yellow and white flash?'_ Lucas started to think to himself, attempting to tie up the loose ends. _'That could only mean, he's come straight from the end of episode four. Right before the colossal titan showed up. As far as places to warp from goes, that's not so bad. Though that means he doesn't know about his titan powers yet, or Annie's true identity, or even about the secret of the walls. That means I need to explain it all to him, or maybe even show him...'_

 _"Before we could even begin to question what was going on, you came out of nowhere and ran into me. Everything after that you already know about."_

 _"Okay, got it. Sorry about running into you, by the way."_

 _"It's alright. But could you tell us where behind the walls we are?"_

 _"Walls? The walls don't exist, neither do the Titans."_

 _"The Titans are gone!?"_ They all said rapidly as their jaws hit the metaphorical floor.

 _"Yeah, they've never existed."_

 _"That's brilliant! That means humanity's finally free!"_ Eren said enthusiastically while a grin started spreading across his face.

 _"Wait."_ Armin interrupted, stopping Eren's small celebration. " _What do you mean 'never existed'?"_

'Oh shit. I shouldn't have said that. Now, what am I supposed to say?'

 _"Well... By that I mean... They may be... sort of... made up."_

 _"MADE UP!"_ Eren shouted out as Lucas internally winced.

 _"Lucas, what you're saying is impossible. For the Titans to be just 'made up', that means us three are just the same. And yet, we're here."_

 _"Yeah, about that..."_

 _"Don't try and tell us we're made up too!"_ Lucas sighed internally realising between constant revelations and Eren's shouting they were getting no where.

 _"Look, I can't explain how or why, but for god knows what reason you guys have crossed over from your world into mine. And in this world, you guys are just characters in something called an anime."_

 _"What's an anime?"_

 _"It's like a book, but it's pictures are on a screen. The pictures move with sounds and music."_

 _"Could you maybe show it us?"_

 _"Sure, but after we've worked some stuff out. I'm guessing you have a lot of questions on your mind."_ Lucas deflected, in an attempt to find a way back on track. Things were difficult for him as the situation stood without factoring in a binge watch.

 _"Yeah, but we may be a while"_

 _"It's ok, I don't mind."_

After about another twenty minutes of talking, and sometimes in Eren's case shouted, Lucas had explained everything to them. How they were from anime and manga, how they'd gained fans all over the world and how the world was different to theirs. No titans, no walls, and no survey corps.

 _"So if we made it to this world, what are the chances anyone else came as well?"_ Armin inquired, his state of mind still dwelling on the situation.

 _"Honestly? I don't know. But for now, you guys can stay with me till we sort something out."_

 _"Really? Thanks! We'll try not to be an inconvenience."_

 _"Don't worry, I'll tell Sarah you're exchange students and that we're offering a place to stay for a while."_

 _"Thanks, Lucas, we owe you."_

 _"Nah, after the help you gave when I was back in the alley we're just about even"_

 _"Wait. Who were those guys that attacked you?"_ Mikasa asked. Lucas honestly can't tell if she was just being curious, taking an interest or planning to hunt down the thugs who attacked Eren. It honestly wouldn't surprise him that much if she went all Liam Neeson on them.

 _"Just bullies at school, no-one special."_ In reality, Lucas knew he was bending the truth by saying this. While he'd only ever seen them as bullies, James was inducted into a gang, along with his cronies. He pretended to run the area around his school, gang wise at least. Though he held about as much influence as a twig in the rapids. Luckily, he never saw Lucas as anything more than just a nerd he could toy with. He hated to think what would happen If they got involved. Either way, It would end badly for all of them.

* * *

Across town, far from the school and housing estates, sat a crumbling old factory that heavily contrasted with that of Lucas' home. It's location was far out on the desolate outskirts of the area, with chipped brick walls and rusted metal gates. And what made the whole site all the more avoidable, was the absence of electricity. Which wouldn't have been so bad, without taking the moss coverings on almost every window for the building into account. Almost every room sat in pitch black, except for what was, the managers' office. The windows had been cleaned, polished, repaired and refitted with iron bars protecting them. In a way, they held less use than a chocolate fireguard. Not because they didn't work, but because no-one ever went near the place. No kids throwing stones, no passers-by or any of the locals. The rumors said it was haunted, but maybe that's just what he wanted them to think.

In the boss' office, seven people in total were present. Six standing, one sitting. Two clutched their guts, clearly suffering stomach pains. Two others looked in even worse shape, one had a broken and bloodied nose, while the other had his leg in a cast. Only two of the standing suffered from no visible injuries; one was short, about 4'10 with brown skin and a black beanie. The other looked overweight, with tight jeans and an undertaker wrestling shirt. He often talked or bragged about god knows what, never shutting up unless the mood struck him. But in that moment, he'd become deathly quiet. The room was silent enough that you could hear a pin drop.

 _"Could you explain what caused your group to look such a sorry state?"_ The man sitting at the desk said, after what had felt like an eternity of silence.

 _"I'm sorry sir, we were jumped. By another gang. They managed to corner us, rough us up a bit. We left them in the ground though, they won't bother us again."_

Once again, the man sitting in the chair said nothing, his pitch black fedora covered his eyes. That and his brown coat being some of the few things clear from the light that passeed through the windows. Without making a sound, he pulled out a phone and showed the screen to his colleagues. On the screen was a security feed, no sound just video. It depicted a crummy and worn down alleyway, with cracks running across the walls and mildew between the gaps. Suddenly, a white flash appeared dazzling the camera, along with the group of men watching its feed.

When the flash fades, three people were standing around in brown jackets and covered in belts. About ten seconds after, a fourth figure ran into the frame, colliding with the brown haired boy. The group watching instantly recognized the runner as Lucas. The wimp from school. They got up and start talking, though no-one in the room knew what they're saying due to the absence of sound. After about another minute, the gang saw what was them earlier today walk into the frame. They looked on as the brunette got angered, a fight breaking out and most of the gang getting knocked down.

All but one. The leader of the group hightailed it. Leaving his fellow gang members behind. Soon after, the four who kicked their asses walked down the alley, or in the brunettes case limped, after which the camera's feed stopped.

 _"Call that another gang? You got your guts kicked in by kids! And what was that you said about them, oh that they were 'left in the ground'? They look more lively than you say, James."_ As his superior said this, his voice soft and low, James shook with fear. He knew the price of deceit in his organization, he knew to be afraid.

 _"Sir... It was just a fluke. I... I can do better, they won't get me like that again. Trust me, It won't happen aga-"_ He stopped talking then and couldn't continue his sentence after the bang, or even make a sound. Who could? Especially after taking a bullet straight to the brain.

The man with the fedora had swiftly stood up, reached his hand into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a .38 magnum revolver. He pulled the trigger without mercy, not even caring for the life he took. James collapsed to the ground like a tonne of bricks, but no-one saw it or even glanced at James' limp body twitching on the ground. Everyone kept their eyes focused on the gun. It did little good though, as the man nonchalantly aimed his pistol and unloaded another 4 rounds.

Within ten seconds of the gun being drawn, all but two men lay dead on the floor. Their grey brains scattered across the walls like a despicable art display. Only then, did the man lower the gun. Leaving the last gang member standing, his brown jacket stained with James' blood. He instantly knew why the boss hadn't gunned him down along with his friends. He emerged from the fight with no scars and hadn't run away. He's the most capable of what was his gang.

 _"You see the price of failure John, fail me like they did and I'll show you the taste of lead."_

 _"Yes, sir."_ For the first time in his life, John actually saw his superior smile as he finished. It was a twisted smile, like a guy from a movie he'd see. What was his name? Joker? Now that he thought about it, John realized they weren't that different; psychotic, controlling and with a disregard for human life.

 _"You don't call me sir anymore, as the new head of my town you call me by name."_ Head of the town? That' was a vision John hadn't seen possible, but now the responsibilities would become his. For the gang, and the territory. He also knew that the price of failure, if anything went wrong, would be paid for in blood. His. _"From now on John, you can call me 'Omega'."_

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay! But hopefully, this will have been worth the wait. Also, let me know if you want long chapters taking about two to three weeks, or short chapters taking one to two. Either way, feel free to review!**


	4. Discovery

Chapter 4: Discovery

 **A/N: I'm thinking about showing them the main series, but the two choices to show with are either:  
-Add them watching the show into the story, or  
-make a side story (or OVA, I guess).  
You guys decide, but till I get about three reviews deciding, I'll put the series watching on hold.  
Let me know what you think! Au revoir!**

 _"So... If the Titans are made up, then is everything else made up too?"_ Armin inquired, attempting to create a clearer picture of his situation.

 _"The cities like Shiganshina and Trost are made up, but some stuff exists still."_ Lucas said, answering Armin's question.

 _"Like the sea?"_ The blond asked to no-ones surprise, as Lucas had already figured that would be on his priorities list, he and Eren had always wanted to go since childhood. Mikasa, not so much. But he was sure she'd enjoy it too. _'Come to imagine it, Jean probably wouldn't mind seeing her in a bikini.'_ The teen thought to himself. Then again, he knew it would probably start another fight with Jaeger and Kirstein if Eren were to catch him looking.

 _"Yeah, that exists. Though its proper name is the ocean."_ At hearing this, Eren and Armin's faces started to shine like the sun. Even Mikasa's eyes widened slightly hearing the news. Lucas assumed she'd heard about it from the book like the other two, though not as impressed.

 _"Cool! Let's go right no-ouch!"_ Eren started to enthusiastically shout and jump in celebration before landing on his sprained foot and sitting back down again in pain. The dislocation shouldn't have been too agonizing, but it was hurting Eren enough to make him hurl back on the sofa.

 _"Eren, you need to be more careful, you could hurt yourself again."_

 _"Relax Mikasa, it just stings! Stop getting so worried! I'm not gonna die over some stupid foot!"_ Eren shouted as Mikasa stared sadly at the ground, her face darkening as Eren's outburst concluded. Lucas wanted to pull him aside and have a word, but decided against it. Putting it out his mind for the time being.

 _"We can't go swimming just yet, your leg's gonna be sprained for about a couple of weeks so till then we have to take it easy."_ The three stared at Lucas in response like he'd grown a second head. Though Lucas had absolutely no idea why. _"Why are you guys staring at me?"_

 _"Sorry, it's just we can't swim."_ Armin said in reply, ending the small glares being sent by everyone else.

 _"Why? Didn't anyone teach you?"_

 _"Only the rich people in wall Sina can afford to buy pools and lessons, we couldn't get taught or find somewhere to learn."_

 _"I'll teach you guys!"_ Lucas said a little too enthusiastically, before internally cursing himself. _"I mean- if you want."_

 _"That would be great, thanks. But isn't it dangerous?"_

 _"No, we can practice outside in the pool."_ The biggest grin appeared on Armin's face, along with a gleaming smile from Eren. Even Mikasa gave a tiny grin. _"But first we'd best go downtown and buy some new clothes."_

 _"What's wrong with our clothes?"_

 _"Nothing!_ _It's just that wearing military uniform may look suspicious, and nothing raises more eyebrows than kids in uniform."_

 _"Why? Doesn't other people our age join the military?"_

 _"No. You have to be eighteen to see combat, and sixteen to even enlist in our armed forces."_

 _"I guess that makes sense. Considering there aren't any titans here."_ Armin said, thinking out loud. _"So what do people our age wear?"_

 _"Usually the same as me, maybe with a bit of variety."_ Despite being so different mind-wise, Lucas dressed exactly like a typical fifteen-year-old. Jeans, a blue hoodie and a shirt underneath. The shirt underneath being a Superman shirt, about six months old from when his dad took him to Manchester for a movie. They'd dashed into the nearest store called 'forbidden planet' during a rainstorm, soaked from head to toe. Ironically, that's when the teen first got into anime and manga, from seeing the display shelves. As a present, his dad bought him the first volume of attack on titan and his Superman T-shirt. The teen held onto those dearly, being two of the last things his dad had ever bought him. Lucas always ended up wearing that shirt as a result, or a survey corps shirt he'd bought off eBay.

 _"Would you mind buying for us?"_ Armin asked, snapping him out of his nostalgia. _"We don't want to burn a hole in your pocket, but don't have any coins on us."_

 _"Don't worry, I know a store that sells it to me cheap. Plus I've got plenty of money so it doesn't matter."_

 _"Okay, if you say so."_

Suddenly, a loud knocking banged against the door. Hard and fast, pounding on the wood. Eren and Armin jumped at the sudden sounds, while Mikasa's entire body tensed. Ready to lash out towards any threat. Lucas jumped in surprise too, not expecting a visitor that day. Sarah didn't arrive till two in the morning on Fridays, so who could be calling round? The teen cautiously walked up to the front door, the trio falling in behind him. He looked through the peephole, half of his body tensing for another fight with the bullies. The other half feeling it couldn't be them. They'd never come to his house before, why would have changed?

The other half was right. Outside on the porch stood two people, fifteen years old. A short girl with long red hair, and a tall guy with short brown hair panting slightly. The boy wore a plain T-shirt, with a pair of blue jeans while his friend donned a Harley Quinn shirt and red skirt. Then everything came together in Lucas' mind, realizing something he'd forgotten: Alex and Harry were invited earlier that day. He knew things would be hard enough without visitors coming round, but coupling them in leaves no breathing room. It wasn't a case of them believing him or not, they trusted Lucas enough to say the truth. But rather their reactions seeing idols turned real. Harry was pretty chilled and shouldn't have be a problem, but knowing Alex Lucas knew she was likely to scream in delight or faint. It's hard for anyone to give an image of her excited, but the closest thing people could link it to would be a sugar high times fifty.

 _"Okay, guys. I'd kind of forgotten that my friends were coming round, so try and play it cool."_

 _"PLAY IT CO-"_ Eren began to shout, but Mikasa hastily covered his mouth. Luckily the two outside hadn't heard anything thus far, but the group could only stay quiet for so long.

 _"Do they know about us?"_ Armin asked, a slightly worried look on his face.

 _"Yeah, they've seen the anime. But hopefully won't freak out."_

 _"mrmph...hmmph."_ Eren muffled out, his mouth still covered. Lucas assumed he was probably trying to say something along the lines of 'what do you mean hopefully!?', which he knew wasn't a good sign. Conjuring all his nerves, he opened the door with a smile on his face. For once, being a genuine smile. Not a forced grin as usual. Alex wrapped her arms around him in a friendly hug, enveloping the teen as she showed off her usual 'knows no bounds' personality. Harry just gave a handshake, his palms sweating from what he could only guess was running. Alex always had him dashing after, no matter what the time of day or place to run.

 _"Hey, Lucas! It's good to see you!"_ Alex said, her typical grin lining the front of her face.

 _"Good to see you guys too. How was the walk, or should I say run, here?"_

 _"Fun!"_

 _"Tiring."_ They both said, almost simultaneously, which the teen couldn't help but chuckle from. They really were opposites on running; Alex could dash to Paris and back despite her asthma, while Harry became winded after jogging for more than a minute.

 _"I was wondering If maybe you could meet some guys. They stepped in against James today, so I want you to know them."_

 _"JAMES!"_ Alex shouted, her happy attitude slowly being replaced by a look of rage. _"What did he do? Did he hurt you? I swear to god if he has again the next time I spot him I'll ram my foot deep inside his-"_

 _"Calm down Alex, don't worry. Look, he doesn't even have a scratch. You can relax."_ Harry said calmly, helping to get Alex down from her anger. She rarely got angry, but when she did all hell would break loose. After the first time Lucas' bullies played 'nerd piñata', Alex practically hunted them down the following Monday. She'd thrown a punch straight into James' face and tried to take on his whole gang. They bruised her cheek in the process before putting Alex in a headlock. But just as she'd started to pass out, Harry ran over shouting at the bullies. He'd thrown his punches in a blind rage, eventually attracting several others into the skirmish giving them all black eyes. The bullies got suspension, but only for the following week.

They steered clear of Lucas for a while afterwards, but soon after started their usual antics again. This time, when they did he never let either Alex or Harry know about James. The teen couldn't bear to see Alex get hurt again, or have Harry go into a rage like that.

He only wanted them to be happy.

 _"So, would you mind meeting them then?"_

 _"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine."_ Harry said.

 _"Sure! If they helped you they're already cool in my book!"_ Alex enthusiastically stated. In response, Lucas stepped back about three paces and gestured towards the trio.

 _"Guys, this is Eren, Mikasa, and Armin."_ He said, trying to sound as confident as possible.

 _"Kay Lucas, we figured you'd want to watch attack on titan. But what are their real names?"_ Harry asked, with a raised eyebrow.

 _"I'm not kidding, those are their real names. They're the real deal."_ He responded. Slowly, the realization started to hit them as they took in the familiar faces and nostalgic jackets. Harry's eyes widen to sizes Lucas had never seen before, and Alex's beaming smile grew even wider as the seconds past. A few seconds after the confession, Alex screamed a piercing fangirl shriek of either pure terror or happiness. Probably the latter. She then dashed straight towards Armin and shook his hand while talking at an unfathomable speed.

 _"HimynameisAlexI'mahugefanoftheshowandIreally_ _reallylikeyouI'mabigfanofyours."_ Alex greeted, her excitement and happiness taking control. While Armin put all his energy into not losing his balance from the shaking.

 _"Hi...Um...Who...Are you?"_ Armin asked hesitantly.

 _"Okay...I think you should probably just sit down for a minute Alex."_ Lucas said while Harry pried Alex's hands off Armin's arm before she yanked it out its socket. _"I know this is exciting, but we should probably try and keep a clear head."_ Lucas saw a unanimous nod from almost everyone in the room, realizing how things had gotten out of hand.

 _"Maybe it would be a good idea to eat something, today's felt like a long one, so food would be perfect now."_ Harry said. The low rumbling of stomachs across the room, including Lucas', showing him that take-out was probably the best way forward.

 _"K. I'll call the Chinese place down the road, and order a few starters."_

 _"Wait!"_ Alex and Harry said, stopping the teen from grabbing his phone. _"We spent our allowance at McDonald's earlier this week, we can't afford our share."_

 _"Don't worry, I can pay._ " Once again Alex's face lit up like a Christmas tree. After seeing her idols IRL, and a free Chinese? If you could explode with happiness, the entire continent would have been wiped off the map.

* * *

 _"We'll probably end up waiting for about half an hour, so I should probably introduce you guys fully."_ Lucas said, after having gone back into the living room with Alex under control. _"Guys, this is Alex and Harry. My friends from school, and fellow anime watchers."_

 _"Hi!"_

 _"So, they watch the show like you?"_ Armin inquired.

 _"Yep. We watch it together every once in a while, hence why I invited them earlier today."_

 _"So can we watch it later?"_ Alex asked, impatient to start enjoying another anime binge watch.

 _"Maybe, we still have the stuff to figure out."_

 _"Like what?"_ Harry asked, his curious side clearly showing.

 _"Like..._ " Lucas started to reply, though his brain slowed to a crawl looking for a response. _"If anyone else made it from their world."_

 _"Good point."_ Eren said. _"It would be nice to see everyone, except maybe horse-face."_

Alex burst out laughing at this, the three newbies giving raised eyebrows as they don't understand, though Lucas and Harry knew. Jean's constant bickering with Eren had always made her laugh, she found it funny how they could argue about pretty much anything since the day they met. Eren was clearly annoyed though, a large scowl on his face. But while everyone else focused on Alex's hysteria, Mikasa took his hand and looked him in the eye. The scowl slowly fades, while Lucas did everything he could not to show his inner fanboy.

After about two minutes, Alex finally composed herself and Eren's anger had faded. _"Now that's over and done with, we should talk about the chance of others coming through, and how."_

 _"But we don't know."_ Mikasa pointed out. _"One minute we were there, the next gone."_

 _"Don't worry, we'll figure something out."_ Harry said, reassuringly.

 _"Till then, we keep an eye out for any sign of your friends. Ok?"_

 _"Ok."_

They continued to talk about simple things, and occasionally about the chance of others coming to the world with Lucas interjecting every once in a while to prevent Alex from spilling any... unsavory info. Later on, the delivery showed up having only taken about ten minutes for once to get there. The delivery guy came up to the door, sporting a classic 'I'd love a big tip for coming fast' grin on his face. That grin widened along with his eyes after Lucas flashed a £20.00 note his way. Which was a big tip, considering he only needed to give £8.95. The delivery guy left and the group sat down in front of the TV before starting to eat. Everyone's face lit up like Christmas trees as they bit into their meals, the taste almost overwhelming them. Having spent years eating flavorless soup and plain stale bread, the foreign taste delighted the soldiers' taste buds.

Lucas moved to grab the remote, sitting on the armchair while the Shiganshina trio looked curiously towards it.

 _"Lucas, what's that?"_ Armin asked.

 _"It's a remote, it controls the TV there."_ Lucas replied, gesturing towards said television.

 _"So that's what shows 'anime'?"_

 _"More or less."_

Lucas turned on the TV, having left it on BBC news that morning to check the weather for showers. The headlines started showing with the presenter talking. _"Our top story tonight, a teenage boy has been hit by a car earlier today by a man in his fifties. Luckily, he was only driving at ten miles an hour, and the boy ran off after being hit."_ The image on the screen changed to that of an old man, in blue jeans and a white shirt. His skin covered in a sheen of sweat, clearly shaken up from something.

 _"Lucas, when was this taken?"_

 _"It's sopposed to be live, so more or less right this second."_

"What?" Armin exclaimed as he looked towards Lucas. "How is that possible?"

"They basically send out a signal from their camera, before being fed into cables, which transmits to the TV in front of us. Like how waves ripple across water." Lucas explained to the best of his ability, though he could visibly tell the blond was far from understanding. He simply looked back towards the TV and started listening again.

"Could you switch to boomerang, Lucas?" Alex asked, clearly bored by the stuttering interviewer and old man on screen.

"In a minute, I just need to see the weather forecast for tomorrow."

"You guys can predict the weather?" Eren asked, wide-eyed.

"Well... Reasonably, it's about 95% accurate. It helps, but it isn't always accurate."

"Fascinating." Armin stated before returning his gaze to the report.

By this time the old man had started to regain his composure, beginning to retell his story. _"I...Was just driving home from work when a group of teens randomly walked into the road. There were about nine or ten of them, dressed in brown jackets and belts."_ Lucas stopped chewing his food and listened carefully to the old man's words. For a moment he thought the geezer had seen some of the cadet corps. Before concluding that it probably wasn't them.

 _'No way they'd get hit by a car that easily.'_ Lucas thought to himself as he returned to his meal.

 _"What did the boy you hit look like?"_ The news correspondent asked.

 _"About fifteen, with brown hair and a long face. Reminded me of a horse's."_ At hearing this, Lucas spat out his drink mid-sip. Dousing Eren as he sat beside him, much to the brunettes annoyance.

 _"What the hell, Lucas!?"_

 _"Don't you guys see what's happening?"_ I ask.

 _"That old people can't drive and young people can't hold their booze?"_ Alex said, clearly not seeing Lucas' train of thought.

 _"No, that everyone else is here right now!"_ Armin said, reading between the lines like Lucas had prior.

 _"We need to go now! Who knows where they could be?"_ Eren said, clearly ready to rush head-first for his friends.

 _"But Eren, we don't know where they are, And it's dangerous to look for them this close to night."_ Mikasa said, trying to deter Eren's determination. While Lucas knew it wasn't that late, as the sun still had yet to set, she was right. The night was only about half an hour away. And the long walk over would result in the day becoming night the time they arrived.

 _"Don't worry, there are street lamps to guide the way!"_ Alex said, clearly enthusiastic about a late night search.

 _"Yeah, plus I recognize the street."_ Lucas added. _"It's a road just outside our school, they'll probably be somewhere in there."_

 _"Wait."_ Harry said, slightly sweating as he did so. _"You don't want us... To go to school at night, right?"_

 _"If they're there then yes. Why? Are you scared?"_ Alex teased, a small smirk on her face.

" _No! I just..."_ Harry started saying, his mind searching for an excuse. _"Hate going to school during our time off. Why should we go back now?"_

 _"Because they need us."_ Lucas said, deciding it would be a bad idea to just leave them wandering this close to nightfall. _"We'll set off in about five minutes, I'll grab some torches and get some water to drink."_

 _"Sounds good."_ Armin said, clearly worried and glad at the same time: glad his friends were ok but worried all the same about exploring a strange place at night.

 _"Yeah. Let's hurry and find them."_ Eren added.

Lucas made his way to the door, grabbing two torches and getting Alex and Harry's spare coats. Before they'd kept going round in circles thinking about who else could come through. Now it would simply be a case of finding them, not wondering if they were there or not. They needed to. For their sake. The thing was, Lucas still dreaded school. For the bullies, the agonizing work, and the glorified poison they served in the cafeteria. The only comfort he ever had was knowing that nothing terrible could happen to him in school. He wouldn't get hurt too badly, or come close to dying. But in the darkness, he knew even the safest places could feel like a death trap.


	5. Infiltration

Chapter 5: Infiltration

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading the story so far! The reviews have really helped me shape the story and** **my writing's improving every time I touch a keyboard! And in regards to watching the series, it looks like the watching will be a separate OVA. Expect it some time in the near-future. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

 _'Dammit Lucas, what have you gotten into now?'_ Lucas thought to himself as he walked down the school's main road. Going into school normally was unbearable for him, but breaking in under the darkness of night? Not only would prison be an obvious outcome, but he couldn't help but think what about the unspeakable things that could be inside? He knew it was probably nothing, but the thoughts clawing in his head didn't. They saw school as a torture chamber, an inescapable prison. He couldn't bear to imagine that at night!

But hopefully, his nerves would stay in check and not shoot off like a thousand small fireworks. Considering that Alex and Harry were there and with three of anime's strongest heroes tagging along things shouldn't have gone too badly if the situation went south. Even with Eren's leg bound in a make-shift cast strung together by him and Armin, they still have the strength should something happen. There was a chance of running into the bullies again, or a gang from the edge of town. Probably not, but it Lucas' mind, it was better safe than sorry.

They acted like they were indestructible, but they only had about ten guys to their name, including James. At least to Lucas' knowledge. And considering they hadn't done anything notable in the last three months other than give him bruises, Lucas believed they were starting to pack up shop. Their leader was supposedly a nut job who butchered over a hundred people in Manchester twenty years prior. More than enough reason for their time's end, at least in most peoples opinion.

 _"How much longer is it?"_ Eren groaned.

 _"Not too long, we can rest here if you want, or keep going."_ Lucas said, taking into consideration that not only was he probably tired but his leg could also have been hurting.

 _"No, I'll keep walking till we get there."_

 _"Eren, you shouldn't push yourself too much. Considering the state of your leg, you should take it easy."_ Mikasa said, concerned as ever.

 _"Relax already, walking won't kill me ya know! Stop treating me like a kid!"_ Eren snapped back, causing Mikasa's eyes to darken slightly. Lucas subconsciously gave the brunette a small scowl, though not realising it. He couldn't bare to see her treated like that, though could do little to solve it.

 _"Lucas?"_ Armin said, capturing the teens attention.

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"What sorts of things do you learn in 'school'? Things like how to work?"_

 _"We learn a mix of things, but the basics everyone goes through are maths, English, and science."_

 _"What kinds of science?"_ Armin enquired.

 _"Biology, chemistry, and physics."_ Lucas said. _"But I'm more of an expert with computers."_

 _"What's a computer?"_ Eren asked, having listened in to snippets of the conversation.

 _"Computers are awesome!"_ Alex blurted out. _"You can do stuff like watch videos, and look at websites."_

 _"Videos?"_

 _"Websites?"_

 _"I'll explain that stuff to all of you when we get back."_ Lucas interrupted before Alex said something she shouldn't. All it would have taken was the word 'Tumblr' for everything to fall down the drain. If they found out about fanart or pairings too soon, Lucas knew things were guaranteed to go awry. _"Anything else you want explaining when we get back?"_

 _"I'm interested to find out this world's history, and maybe more about what it looks like."_ Armin said, unsurprisingly. He was more or less guaranteed about wanting to see the outside world. Lucas know he would in his shoes.

 _"Could we go and see everything one day?"_ Eren asked. _"Like mountains and jungles?"_

 _"Maybe one day, but for now we'd best stay local. No telling what we could run into or fin-"_ Lucas was trying to say before a pickup truck roared past out of nowhere, diving straight into a massive pool of left-over rainwater. Dousing both Lucas and Armin from head to toe. The large mass of water slammed into them like a brick wall, knocking the two off their feet.

 _"tey couldn hav gotten us mor wet!"_ Lucas tried to say, with a mouthful of mud-filled rainwater. After realizing the teen spat it straight out and started to gag slightly while Armin just straight away vomited up what was his Chinese along with the stale old muck from the water, flowing into a nearby rusty grate.

 _"What was wrong with that guy?"_ Eren said, clearly annoyed that the guy had doused his friend. _"Why'd he soak you for no reason?"_

 _"He probably didn't realize."_ Mikasa said in response.

 _"She's right, it happens all the time."_ Lucas said. _"We're just around the corner from school though, so it could be worse."_

 _"Dammit."_ Armin cursed. _"Now my mouth tastes like vomit."_

 _"Here."_ Alex said, handing him a piece of gum. _"It won't get rid of it fully, but at least it won't overwhelm you now."_

 _"Thanks, but what is it exactly? Is it a kind of sweet?"_

 _"Yeah, but you chew it and don't swallow it."_

 _"Why would you chew it and not swallow it?"_ Mikasa asked. _"What would be the point?"_

 _"You just do for the taste, try it!"_ Alex said enthusiastically. Armin stuck the gum into his mouth and started to chew. " _Like it?"_

 _"Yeah, it's not bad, thanks. I guess I owe you one."_

 _"Don't worry about it!"_ Alex said. But while Alex and Armin started to talk, and Eren walked ahead with Mikasa Lucas saw a strange look on Harry's face. One he'd never seen before.

 _'Is he... Jealous? Of Armin?'_

* * *

They finally arrived near the school gates. After finding no trace of the group outside, Lucas had asked Eren and his friends to look out behind them in case anyone showed up. At least until they found a way inside. It was better that way, just in case James or anyone else showed up, then they'd be in more trouble than just prison. When they walked up through the grimy driveway to the school the trio saw a white chrome keypad locking away the school behind the closed steel gates shining in the moonlight. There was no way anyone could open it without the right code, to the group it may as well have been an iron chain. What the school may have lacked in education, funding and in Lucas' case good classmates; they definitely made up for with security. Behind school gates anyway.

 _"Damn, I forgot about the gate. Looks like we aren't going in after all."_

 _"Well..."_ Alex hesitated as she pulled out what looked like a credit card. Painted red and white, with a chrome finish on one side.

 _"Wait. Is that... An all-access key card?"_ Harry asked.

 _"Yep. Borrowed it from Mr. Sudarrac during my detention."_

 _"By borrow, you mean stole don't you?"_ Harry said. Ever since the other two had met him he was always a sucker for the rules, despite how little they mattered in the grand scheme of things. Those three were the only ones who follow them anyway. Well... When I say three.

 _"Think of it as 'a reward for only getting one detention a week', if it helps."_ Alex said, a mischievous grin on her face that all but screamed out trouble.

 _"You just want to break into the cafeteria and steal the left-over tacos don't you?"_

 _"Maybe..."_

 _"Normally, that would be pretty cool idea. But this time around, we need to focus on why we're here in the first place."_ Lucas said, in an effort to get things back on track. They desperately needed to get inside the school, even if the cadets weren't in there they could try and access the area's CCTV systems to try and find them. But no matter what, they had to get inside.

 _"Hey Lucas, do you ever wonder why we're here?"_

 _"Now's not the time for a red vs blue reference Alex."_

 _"There's always time for a red vs blue reference!"_

 _"Alright, Alex. I need you to get serious now. If we're going to find everyone in there, we're best off splitting into two or three groups. Me and Eren will take the cafeteria and the computer lab, Harry will go with Armin to the library and the few classrooms while you and Mikasa search the gym. Okay?"_

 _"But I want to eat the tacos!"_

 _"No buts, we can eat later. And how are you still hungry after all the Chinese you ate?"_ To this Alex just nonchalantly shrugged.

 _"No reason."_

 _"Okay then... Hey guys!"_ Lucas shouted back to Eren and the others _. "We've found a way to get the gate open!"_

 _"Got it, we're coming!"_ Eren responded from back down the drive.

 _"Well...here goes."_

* * *

 _Wait...We're splitting up?"_ Mikasa said, a worried tone coating her voice.

 _"Just until we find everyone. We'll meet up again after we've searched around."_ Lucas said. Knowing that Mikasa would probably have been scared to death about Eren getting hurt. " _Nothing_ _will_ _happen_. _We'll_ _be_ _in_ _and_ _out,_ _ok?"_

 _"Ok."_ Mikasa said. But before any of them could set off, Mikasa grabbed Eren's arm stopping his movement. _"Please,_ _no matter_ _what_ _happens_. _Promise_ _me_ _you'll_ _be_ _careful."_ She said, her eyes downcast. He just pulled his arm out and walked away, giving her the cold shoulder treatment.

" _Eren_ , _the_ _cafeteria_ _is_ _the_ _other_ _way."_

 _"I knew_ _that."_ He said after turning back around and passing the two again. All the while Lucas couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever stop treating her like a thorn in his side.

 _"Hey_ _Lucas,_ _you_ _coming?"_

 _"Yeah_ , _I'll_ _show_ you _the_ _way"_ Well appreciating or not, Lucas knew Mikasa cared deeply about Eren. And he knew he'd end up with lots of broken bones if something happened to him. So it was for the best that he looked out for him just in case. And there was the itching sensation in his mind that if they had managed to break inside the school, what was to say someone else couldn't?

 **A/N: The next couple of chapters will take an extra two weeks because they're linked together and work better when you can read the whole thing at once. In four weeks, on the twenty-third of November. You can expect three chapters at once! I'll see you then! And I've re-checked the chapter and re-uploaded because of a few mistakes my phone made using the app.**


	6. A midnight snack

Chapter 6: A midnight snack

 **A/N: The next three chapters are going to be happening at the same point in time but shown from different viewpoints.  
The first will be Lucas, the second Harry and the third from Alex's perspective. Just so no-one gets confused. This is currently from Lucas' point of view.**

 _"Lucas, what's this about?"_ Eren asked, standing next to a mold-covered cork board. Coated with paper notes. And oddly enough, worn pictures. At least forty, some plastered over others.

 _"The school bulletin board."_ Lucas responded. _"It's for posting notices and details on events."_

 _"But why are there pictures of kids on it?"_ He enquired.

 _"They've been going missing over the past month or two. No-one knows where they've gone."_ Lucas said. Just saying it out loud still gave him the chills. Most of the people who had disappeared, previously went to his school. Part of the reason he was scared to go there at night, at least until they caught the guy responsible. His best guess was on a gang, near the city outskirts. They had been quiet in the previous months. Maybe they weren't packing up shop, but rather keeping it behind locked doors. _"It's not really important now, so we'd best move on to the cafeteria."_

 _"I guess you're right. What makes you think anyone's in there?"_

 _"My guess is Sasha broke in for it. I know how she is with food."_ Lucas said. While he knew he could have been wrong just guessing, it was worth a look inside for Sasha. She'd always loved food, apparently the only kind of food she didn't like was stuff you wouldn't consider to be edible. So if there was any room she'd break into, Lucas guessed it would probably have been that one. Lucas decided that he'd look in the cafeteria, partly in case anything went wrong with the door, but mainly because Sasha was probably there. Even when lives were at stake, his crush still persisted.

* * *

They made their way through the courtyard to the cafeteria, walking in tune with the chirping crickets all the while being guided by the full moon. For them it was simply a case of finding an easy way inside. With Eren's leg, they couldn't try anything too ambitious. Hopefully, the janitor had left the door open again. He had a habit of doing that; when his lips were engulfing a morning 'coffee', on the way to a liquid lunch, or after school when he was anxious to buy a chippy and whiskey.

The pair walked, or in Eren's case limped, up to the cafeteria doors. A pair of cherry red double doors with an old-fashioned lock and key design. Lucas grasped his sweating hand around the handle and pushed gently against it. But instead of moving inward, granting them entry it instead held fast. Locking itself in place. Because unfortunately, the janitor had actually remembered to bolt the door for once.

That left a big problem for them, though. With only one set of doors and a few windows, there wasn't a lot of options open.

 _"What's wrong, the door jammed?"_ Eren asked.

 _"No, it's locked."_

 _"Can't you just do what you did earlier? With that weird rectangle thing?"_

 _"You mean the keycard? No, I gave it to Alex and Mikasa for the Gym."_ Lucas replied. When he'd first thought up the plan, the teen had figured they'd get through the open door easily without needing the card. And the classrooms and library had never needed any kind of keycard or key to open. Which meant the only place needing a card was the gym, hence why he gave it to Alex. _"Not only that, but this lock only uses keys not cards."_

 _"Then there's only one option."_ Before Lucas could ask what he meant, Eren awkwardly shuffled back to the gravel path and picked up one of the hundred pebbles that lined the walkway. He arced his arm back, squinting his eye as he prepared to launch the stone straight through the window.

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _"Making a way in. Through the window."_

 _"No! A broken window is an obvious sign someone's snuck in. We'll get there another way!"_

 _"Such as?"_ Lucas glanced at the building side hearing this, scanning the windows and doors for anything that even looked like an opening. Before he found one.

 _"That window, top right. It's open, so I can climb up the guttering, get inside and open the door from the lock in there."_ Lucas explained, hoping to deter Eren from smashing his way into the near-abandoned cafeteria. It was bad enough they were breaking into the school, but breaking the school itself? That was a step too far, they were there to find friends, not prison sentences.

 _"I guess that works too. But you'd best be careful."_

 _"Why?"_

The teen just shrugged at his question, answering nonchalantly. _"Just in case. You never know who, or what could be in there."_

 _"Don't remind me."_ Lucas said, mounting his foot on the first foothold, preparing his body and nerves to climb. _"Stay here till I open the door."_ Lucas began to climb, shaking with every move. The teen wasn't accustomed to heights, and being on the side of a moldy gutter wasn't on his to-do list so it was more than a new experience. He reached for the next hand-hold, his hand quivered with a mix of adrenalin and fear. The heart in his chest thumped with every move he took.

 _"You ok?"_ Eren asked from the ground.

 _"Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?"_

 _"You seem nervous."_

 _"No, just not used to heights like this. They're quite daunting but I'll manage."_ Lucas responded to him, but more to reassure himself than Eren.

 _"Lucas?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"You're only about four foot off the ground."_ When he heard the words climb out his mouth, the teen looked back down and groaned loudly. He'd hardly moved. All that effort and not even a fifth of the way up.

 _'What the hell is wrong with me?'_ Lucas thought to himself. _'I've constantly dreamed of using ODM gear, of being a scout and now I can't even climb up a stupid old building to help Eren's friend. I'm pathetic, now I know how Armin feels all the time. And even then he's just in denial. The guys smart, and they're all brilliant one way or another. And me? A useless waste.'_

 _"You're right. Pathetic, isn't it?"_

 _"Lucas, you're not pathetic."_

 _"Then explain why you can soar over rooftops, and kill giants while I can't even climb a stupid gutter!"_ Lucas shouted, then immediately regretted. That loss of temper left Lucas in a half-fear of Eren's likely to come outburst.

 _"Lucas, try and relax. Just because you're getting anxious doesn't automatically mean you're worthless. It just means that you're human. Like me and everyone else. A_ _rmin's got the same problem. You don't trust yourself enough, stop telling yourself you can't do it and soon you'll be saying that you can."_

 _"But how could I ever be like you? You're a hero, fighting titans like you're just pulling up weeds."_

 _"Even I struggle, but no matter what I keep trying. That's what you need to do. Keep trying until you're easily pushing the limits. I know you can. Don't you remember how you fought off those bastards in the alley? And helping us learn where we are? I couldn't have done all that. You could, because you're smart and have a strong will, a good combination."_ Eren said, his words conveying reassurance and praise.

With Eren's words still filling the air, Lucas casted his gaze back towards the guttering. Then, taking care not to pressure the supports, he raised his palms and gripped the cold metal pipes crawling its way up the building. This time, he kept his fear locked away. Strengthening his will to pure iron. Placing his feet, then placing his sweating palms again. The teen kept a good rhythm going, shooting up the gutter. The once-great resilience of his horror was shattering like glass with every step he took. And within thirty seconds, he'd reached the open window.

 _"Nice work Lucas! I knew you could do it!"_ Eren shouted from the ground.

 _"Thanks, now it's just a case of getting in."_ Luke shouted back, a wide grin plastered on his face. Looking back to the small opening on his left, Lucas placed the palm of his hand on the window ledge before pulling himself up and in, making sure to keep a strong grip on the plastic surface. Only then did he place his shaking feet on the carpet, thankful to be down on firm ground again. He then turned on his phone's flashlight and observed his new-found surroundings.

Strangely enough, the room looked alien to him, it's white plastered walls and velvet carpet greeted his eyes. Combined with the beautiful mounted paintings scattered around the room, and the comfy black couches lying on the floor, the teen couldn't help but feel amazed and confused as to how no-one knew of that small paradise. Like a small tropical island surrounded by an ocean of crashing waves and jagged rocks. Then the realization hit him like a fist to the stomach. The room he'd broken into was the teachers lounge. And the emotions of awe shifted to that of pure annoyance.

Having spent years sat on black torture chairs staring at scratched and moldy walls to gain even a scrap of education, just to see a life of luxury hidden away? It made his blood boil. All the money school got, every year a new truckload's worth came through. Was that really where it all went?

 _"What's up there Lucas?"_ Eren shouted.

 _"Nothing, just the teacher's lounge."_ Lucas called back.

 _"Is anyone there?"_

 _"No, I'll go down to the cafeteria and check."_

 _"Be careful."_

 _"Sure."_ The teen responded, as he looked towards the oak door for an escape. The teen knew he needed to do a thorough search, which would have been a lot easier if Alex hadn't forced him into watching the movie 'It' with her. At any moment he expected a psycho killer clown to appear from behind the door with a butchers stake knife and drag him away down the hall.

His right hand grasped the polished brass handle, coating it with a layer of sweat in the shape of a handprint. His skin's pores gushed in fear, emptying every drop of sweat onto his very shaky palms. Taking the deepest breath of his life, Lucas thrusted open the door and looked out. Half of his body ready for a fight, the other for a heart attack.

And yet he saw nothing, just an empty hall bathing in the dim light of his phone's flashlight. But just as he was shuffling his feet, moving a gaze out to the hallway, a series of low beeps emanated through the air, shattering the silence of the hallways. Lucas looked around frantically, hearing the sounds not of a battery warning but of a monster's banging dinner bell. Then the screen died, plunging the hall back into absolute darkness. Casting his gaze away from the darkened display, the teen could feel his heart pounding against his chest, looking out into the near shadowless hallway. His blue eyes stayed hungry though, looking to find every detail that was there. Then his heart fully jumped out when they found something worth focus. Two single eyes, staring straight into his soul like a fresh meal. Lucas heard a low, beastly growl echo across the room, which replaced the pounding of his own heart.

And Lucas did the only thing he could.

 _Scream._


	7. Tonight's book club

Chapter 7: Tonight's book club

A/N: The next three chapters are going to be happening at the same point in time but shown from different points of view. The first will be Lucas, the second Harry and the third from Alex's perspective. Just so no-one gets confused. This is currently from Harry's point of view.

Walking across the cold hard floor, Harry could still feel the cold seep through his thin coat. The wind scraping across the teens cheeks like a thousand tiny knives. Luckily though, he and Armin were almost at the library. About thirty meters away from the door. But in the cold, it felt more like a thousand. It was even worse for the blonde, as all he was wearing over his clothes was a thin jacket, no coat. He wrapped his arms around himself as he walked, his skin freezing from the unforgiving cold. The teeth in his mouth chattered together relentlessly and uncontrollably, and he couldn't stop himself from shaking.

 _"You gonna be ok?"_ Harry asked.

 _"H-h-h-how much l-l-longer will we b-b-be?"_ The blond responded, his teeth still clanging against each other.

 _"It's just over there, the blue door."_ True to his word, the door was just to their ten o'clock, the moonlight showing their every step. Though unlike its much warmer brother, the moon did little to ease their chills. It was much more freezing there than for the rest of the school, as it's location left it open to the elements and all their power. It likened to the feelings of stepping outside in a snowstorm.

 _"Ok-k-kay."_ He said through the chatters. Feeling sorry for him, he took his thin coat off exposing myself to the elements. Then, the brunette draped it over Armin's jacket, covering the two swords and leather with a simple blue and red coat. Though it could do little in the way of warming him up, at least he wouldn't get much colder.

 _"Here, it's not much but it helps."_

 _"B-b_ _ut are you sure about this?"_

 _"What's there to be sure about?"_

 _"Giving me your coat. What if you catch a cold, or something worse?"_

 _"I'll be fine, it's not much longer now to the door."_

 _"Okay. Thanks."_

 _"Don't mention it."_ He responded as they continue to walk.

 _"Hey, Harry?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Would you mind if I asked about what happened earlier? You had this strange look on your face when I was talking to Alex."_

 _"I wasn't looking at you weirdly!"_ Harry said too fast and too loud to be believable.

 _"It's ok, I'm not mad or anything. I just feel curious why."_

 _"Honestly?"_

 _"Honestly."_ He sighed at this, considering how hard he'd been working to try and keep it a secret.

 _"I...Have a crush on Alex, and when I saw you talking with her I couldn't help but feel jealous. Sorry, It's nothing personal."_ The teen explained to him, his gaze cast on the ground hiding red cheeks that were from more than just the cold.

 _"It's ok, I haven't got any kind of feelings for her. But it was easy for me to tell that you do."_

 _"Is it obvious?"_

 _"Painfully. I'm pretty sure everyone except Alex sees it. The way your eyes linger on her when she isn't looking, the smile you put on when she's around. I'm surprised you aren't together."_ Not a word escaped Harry's lips, as the teen's brain exploded in awe. He couldn't help but wonder if everyone knew. The brunette was so sure that no-one knew. And yet Armin had figured it out in just one day. It was reasonable for him to assume everyone knew.

 _"Wait, how can you tell I have feelings for her so easily?"_

 _"Let's just say I know someone who's got a crush and never mentions it."_

 _"You mean Mikasa, don't you?"_ His jaw slacked at this, realizing he may have given away his friend's secret. " _Don't worry, I could already tell long before you guys met. It wasn't what you said."_

 _"Thanks, I guess. Promise you won't say anything?"_

 _"Promise. But you know she should say something before it's too late."_

 _"Yeah, but I think she's too worried if she says anything and Eren doesn't feel the same way then she'll lose her best friend."_ Armin said. Now that the teen thought about it, trying to look past the shipping fuel he'd been focused on the last few years, he was right. The reason she held back was because she feared losing him. At least he knew, and odds are Lucas would probably have fainted from hearing him.

The two walked up to the door, and true to Lucas' predictions, there was no lock in sight. In a way, Harry could sort of see the reason for it. With a school full of computers and very expensive gym gear, who would try and steal books? _"Here we are if we're lucky someone could be in here."_ He said.

 _"What are the odds someone's in there?"_

 _"This is one of the few unlocked rooms in the school, and what's a more calming space than a library?"_

 _"That's only the case during the day."_

 _"True, but seeing someone hit by a car usually needs calming down."_

 _"Good point."_

Stepping in the darkness, they walked carefully in and look around the best they could. The darkness chilling Harry's soul and latching onto his nerves like a parasite. But in order to conduct a proper search, the teen was forced to turn on the lights. And when he did, his eyes squinted from the sudden emergence of light. They re-adjust mere seconds later, making everything in the room become much more clear. The books on the shelves, the lonely tables with chairs bearing down on their wooden backs. But two things jumped into focus, holding more importance than the others.

Two girls, in their mid-teens. Though while one stared at them, the other lids unconscious next to her on what would have been an empty table. The one standing had brown hair in a ponytail and freckles on her face. Her brown eyes staring straight at them. The girl lying down next to her, however, looked entirely different, having long flowing blonde hair and closed eyes. Both wore similar clothes, with one detail identical: their cadet corps jackets. Then Harry's mind jumped into overdrive as he realized.

 _"Ymir?"_

 _"How do you know my name? And how did you find Armin?"_

 _"We met earlier, and I've already told him about you."_ Armin said, avoiding a rather awkward situation. Harry couldn't help but feeling slightly impressed, the guy was clearly great at improvising.

 _"Well, can you help me then? Christa's fainted after seeing Jean get hit by some fast cart with no horse. She's been out for a bit."_

 _"Don't worry, I've got an idea."_ Harry said. _"Just check her pulse, see how fast it is. I'll get something together."_ While Armin and Ymir went back to help their friend, the brunette jogged round to the water fountain outside and filled up the library assistant's cracked old mug with cold water. Then, he walked back in with it carefully as to not to spill a single drop. Desperate to leave without a trace of their time here. _"What's her pulse rate?"_ He asked Armin as he arrived back inside.

 _"About 50 a minute."_ He responded. Though he really means 100, as for a heartbeat the initial reading should be doubled. But odds are their scientists hadn't discovered that yet.

 _"Then she's just slightly unconscious, and this should wake her up easily."_ Harry said as he poured a small amount of cold water from the cup onto the teens face. In a reflex response, she bolted up rapidly, her breathing laboured and fast from shock. Showing it in her bright blue eyes.

 _"Hey, hey. Easy Christa, don't worry it's ok."_ Ymir said, before looking dangerously towards the brunette. _"What the hell was that!?"_

 _"I was just waking her up faster, it would normally take a few minutes but we're a bit strapped for time."_

 _"Well, next time focus less on being fast and more on other people. What if you'd have hurt her, then what!?"_

 _"It was cold water."_

 _"It could give her pneumonia!"_

 _"Ymir, don't worry. I'm ok, nothing's wrong."_ Christa said, stopping Ymir's barrage of cold words. _"He was just waking me up, not doing anything to hurt me."_

 _"If you say so. But if you ever hurt my Christa I swear I'll-"_

 _"Please, don't. We can't hurt his feelings, he's just trying to do the right thing."_

 _"Fine."_ Ymir responded coldly in defeat, averting her gaze from Harry. _"I've just gotta check something quickly."_

 _"Ok."_ Armin said as she walked off.

 _"Sorry about Ymir, she can be a bit... over-protective sometimes."_ Christa apologized.

 _"It's ok, that wasn't the right thing to do anyway. I should have just waited."_ Christa giggled a little in response, though Harry didn't take it personally. _"What's so funny?"_

 _"Nothing, it's just that you remind me of someone."_

 _"Who?"_

 _"Just a friend."_ She said in response, her cheerful smile still in place. Harry decided it was best not go any further asking, odds are he'd come off as creepy. _"I should probably introduce myself. I'm Christa, Christa Lenz."_ She said, offering the teen her hand.

 _"Uh, Harry. Harry Benson."_ Harry responded, grasping her hand a little too eagerly. _"Are you feeling ok? You looked pretty out of it earlier."_

 _"Yeah, I-I guess."_ She said, still clearly shaken up. _"It just feels like a dream, none of it looked real."_

 _"What happened?"_

 _"I was with Ymir, we went out shopping earlier today. But later on, we'd gone to check out the dresses when some... bright light blinded us. Next thing we know, several other cadets were standing next to us and it had somehow become night."_ Harry started piecing together the facts, as per Lucas' instructions. He realized that they'd come from the same time as Eren and his friends, but ended up arriving later? Maybe it was because they'd appeared later in the show. Or maybe because they were supporting characters. _"Then what looked like a white cart with no horse rammed straight into Jean, knocking him down."_

 _"Maybe it was looking for a new horse."_ Harry said, earning a small laugh from the blonde. _"Sorry, I'm not trying to make fun."_

 _"It's ok, the cart wasn't going too fast and he didn't look too bad."_ She then looked downcast slightly, a mixed expression on her face. _"At least, I think he didn't. I can't remember much after that. The next thing I can recall was you pouring water on my face."_

 _"Sorry about that."_

 _"It's ok."_ She said, with a happy smile plastered across her face. _"You were just doing the right thing."_

 _"If you say so, but back to what you were saying, do you remember where you all went after Jean was hit by the car? I mean, cart?"_ Harry corrected himself, hoping she hadn't picked up on his blunder.

 _"Not really, no. Have you seen them anywhere?"_

 _"Not yet, but odds are by now one of my friends will ha-"_ Harry had started to say before a blood-curdling scream hit his eardrums. Full of fear, making him jump, and causing Ymir to come running to Christa's side.

 _"What was that?"_ Armin asked, worried.

 _"That sounded like Lucas, he could be in trouble. We need to hurry there. Now!"_ The brunette shouted, running straight for the cafeteria. Leaving the others behind in order to find his friend. Every thought in the teen's head was telling him to run away, not towards, the impending danger. But his friend probably needed him. He mentally kicked himself realising it was stupid of them to agree with splitting up. He was certain something would happen, hell they should have learned that from watching Scooby Doo all the damn time growing up!

But the worst thing His mind could consider was that what if something attacked Lucas? Or worse. Hell, it could only have been a matter of time, until it started to pick them off one by one...


	8. Workout went wrong

Chapter 8: Workout went wrong

A/N: The next three chapters are going to be happening at the same point in time but shown from different perspectives. The first will be Lucas, the second Harry and the third from Alex's perspective. Just so no-one gets confused. This is currently from Alex's point of view.

 _"So this is the gym?"_ Mikasa asked standing outside the blue and white sports hall, not moving from the cold though Alex was shivering from head to toe despite her coat.

 _"Yep, we go in here and play sports sometimes."_ The teen responded.

 _"No offense, but you three don't seem like sports people."_

 _"Yeah, I guess. I love running and stuff, but Harry's asthma holds him back a lot so we can't go too far, and Lucas hasn't done PE lessons since..."_ Alex started to say but hesitated towards the end as she started to realise her word's magnitude.

 _"Since what?"_

 _"Oh, nothing. I'm just going on a bit."_ The red-head said, attempting to derail her train of thought before it travelled too far along. Odds are, Lucas hadn't told them yet about what had happened to his dad John. It was better for him to explain it than to receive a half-baked story from her.

 _"It's ok, I understand. But what's this... Asthma thing Harry has?"_

 _"Basically, it causes your lungs to swell up, and you can't breathe properly."_

 _"Can it kill you?"_

 _"Nah, not usually. But if you push yourself too hard and get an asthma attack, things don't end too well."_

 _"Has he ever had an 'Asthma attack?'"_

 _"Not yet, so I try and be careful with him just in case."_

 _"Really? No offense, but he looked pretty tired out when I saw him walk up with you."_

 _"I knew he could handle it, but we still take a break every few minutes though."_

 _"That probably helps. But, do you mind if I ask something before we go in?"_

 _"Go ahead."_

 _"You and Harry... What's your deal?"_ Alex felt her cheeks flush scarlet red at this, warming her heart with embarrassment. The only silver lining apparent being the disappearance of cold.

 _"N-nothing. We're just... Really good friends, that's all."_ Alex said in an attempted confidence, which combined with her humility sounded more on the wobbly side than believable

 _"Are you sure? The way you look at him says otherwise."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"The fact that you always look at him when you're laughing, and that he gives off a smile seeing you happy. And of course, your bright red face speaks volumes."_ She said, sounding a bit... Smug? Alex couldn't help but feel like her voice carried a sense of pride.

 _"Well... You're not so upfront yourself!"_ Alex said, slightly pissed at her.

 _"What are you talking about?"_ She said, a genuine look of surprise on her face. Which was a large change from her usual stoic expression.

 _"Oh, come on, I can tell you have the hots for Eren. Easily."_ Alex said, making it the raven head's turn to flush bright red.

 _"It's not like that."_ She responded, burying her face into her scarf slightly. _"He's just... really important to me."_

 _"Sure... I'll believe that in a million years."_ Alex said, sounding a little more bitchy than I'd planned.

 _"Please, he's just... Someone I care about."_ She said, tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes, her face covered with her scarlet scarf. Before she could start to cry though, Alex realised exactly what it was she was doing. She'd turned a small teasing into a full blown fight. It was unusual for her, only having to act that way with other girl from school. Having to deal with snotty rich kids had resulted in her becoming very defensive with teasing, though in that instance she regretted every instance of it.

 _"Sorry, Mikasa, I didn't mean it. I just carried on a little bit without realizing. Could we make up again? I'm sorry about upsetting you, and it won't happen again. "_ Alex apologized, making an effort to change her tone. Desperate to not sound like another one of the hundred or so assholes who attended Price academy.

 _"Don't worry, It's not from what you said."_ She said, surprising the red head slightly. _"I'm just... worrying about him."_

 _"Why's that?"_

 _"Because of his leg, what if something's happened to him?"_

 _"He'll be fine, worst case scenario Lucas can look out for him."_

 _"You're sure?"_ She asked, almost like her soul was depending on Alex's answer.

 _"Certain, Lucas always puts his friends in front of himself."_ Her companion said, allowing Mikasa to breathe a little easier. _"Did he ever tell you about when he ran cross country for school?"_

 _"No, what happened?"_ She asked her, her face no longer buried in her scarf.

Alex cleared her throat and set all memory to recall. _"About two years ago, school volunteered for the Lake District cross country run. Thinking that with all the new gym gear, first place would be an easy win."_ She continued, recounting the events of the weeks. _"But when they asked for volunteers to run, no one signed up."_

 _"Why was that?"_

 _"The 'run' they volunteered us for was a ten-mile sprint, straight across the mud-coated countryside in autumn."_ Alex said, the frown on her face showed her annoyance even then that they'd try and put someone through that. _"But it got worse. When no-one volunteered they picked a name at random, and Harry's name was picked out."_

 _"But if he tried to run that long, wouldn't his... 'Asthma' cause him problems.?"_

 _"Yeah, which is what all three of us thought. I wanted to volunteer, but it was a boys-only run so the school wouldn't let me."_

 _"I'm guessing Lucas signed up instead?"_

 _"Yeah, but about a few weeks before the run he dislocated his kneecap. And they threatened to make Harry do it anyway."_

 _"So what happened?"_

 _"He decided to do it anyway, even with his knee."_

 _"What!? He did a ten-mile sprint with a broken knee?"_ She asked in shock and surprise.

 _"Yeah, he said that he wouldn't leave a job half-finished, but I could tell Lucas was just looking out for Harry."_ Alex said, and as she finished her story the red-head couldn't help but feel a slight smile emerge on her face. Remembering how he'd come running in with a brace of one knee and a coat of mud on the other, as she and Harry had cheered him on. Even when the brunette thanked him over and over again Lucas still insisted it didn't matter. No matter what, Alex always knew she could on him after that.

 _"Sounds like a good friend."_

 _"He is, so I know nothing can happen to Eren while he's around."_

 _"Okay, if you say so."_ She says, sounding more assured than earlier.

 _"Now that's over with, shall we finally go in? My butt feels like a ice block right now!"_

 _"Sure, any idea what's in there?"_

 _"Gym gear, and hopefully a few of your friends."_ Alex responded, reaching into her pocket for the key-card. Feeling pretty hopeful about finding them, as odds were it wasn't just a coincidence that some guys, who just happened to be described as attack on titan characters, had shown up on the exact same day as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. They just had to be there.

 _"Let's go then."_ She said, with a slight hint of eagerness in her voice. Alex inserted the red card, hearing a dull 'click' when it hit against the back, and waited for the door to open. The green light flashed above their heads, making Mikasa step back in surprise. Alex chose to just ignore it and pressed on inside as she opened the door. Looking in, three things instantly came to mind: The room was icy cold, despite 24/7 heating that cost the school an arm and a leg. There was a large hole broken through the end window, and three pairs of eyes were staring back at the two in the moonlight.

 _"Mikasa? Is that you?"_ Alex heard a feminine voice say, which strangely sounded... familiar? The teen moved to the lightswitch's and turn them on dazzling her eyes for a few short seconds. But afterwards, the distorted image started to become clear. The three pairs of eyes had become three people. Two guys and a girl. One guy tall and thin with black hair and light green eyes, the other was more muscular, sporting blond hair and hazel eyes. The girl, however, stood out slightly more. Being short and having a blonde haircut styled into a bun. And bright blue eyes.

 _"Yeah, It's me. How could you tell in the dark?"_ Mikasa asked.

 _"Probably your scarf."_ The blonde guy pointed out. _"It stands out."_

 _"Is it that obvious?"_

 _"Isn't that the point Ackermann?"_ The short girl spat out. _"I figured it was to try and lure in Eren."_ Mikasa's stoic appearance disappeared at this and was soon replaced with a look of pure rage. She moved over to the blond, who raises her fists in preparation. But before either could throw a punch, Alex ran in between the two, holding up her hands like confronting two raptors about to attack each

 _"Guys! We don't have time for this!"_ She shouted.. _"Our friends need us right now, and we're arguing like kids! Stop being so trivial and try to work something out."_

 _"I've got news for you, I don't care about anyone except myself."_ The blond haired girl said coldly. _"And odds are the only person she cares about is her brown-haired boy toy."_ Mikasa lost all reason at that last statement and threw a straight punch at the blonde. Said blonde rolled out of it and kicked at her left ankle. Unfortunately for her, the raven head's leg held fast, years of training had strengthened her endurance and will to iron. She tried a strong jab but ends up missing her opponent. And instead collides with Alex's jaw, because she had stepped between the two gain to break up the fight and ended up getting in the way of a punch.

 _"Oh damn. Alex! You ok?"_ She asked her, but from the punch's disorientating attack, Alex didn't hear a word of it. For a moment, the world stopped spinning. The teen forgot who she was, where she was, and when it was. The only thing holding any significance was the stinging bruise on her jaw. The cold floor pressed hard against it, shoving in more pain. And her view became completely blurred.

 _"Both of you, back off. She's hurt because of you two."_ A male voice ordered, but from her view and condition, it may as well have just been inside Alex's head.

 _"It was her fault, she's the one who knocked her out."_ Another voice replied, female this time with more of a bite to it.

 _"But you're the one who antagonized her into it. Just go over there with Bertholdt and we'll check on her."_ He said, gesturing to what looked like the other side of the room.

 _"You don't get to sideline me, Reiner!"_ She objected, with an edge to her tone that made the lying girl's spine shiver.

 _"Well I just did, go over there now."_ He said, his voice remaining low and calm throughout the whole ordeal. The cold, hard bangs of what Alex assumed to be footprints clattered across the gym floor. _"Hey, can you hear me?"_ The teen's focus slowly starts returning , and two figures started emerging into focus. Mikasa, and who she now realized was Reiner.

 _"Yeah... I hear you."_ Alex replied, her voice wobbly and weak.

" _I'm so sorry Alex, I didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident."_ The raven head apologized.

 _"It's ok, we know you didn't do it on purpose."_ Reiner said to her, a reassuring tone coated his smooth voice. _"And what's important isn't blame, but if she's ok. Are you?"_

 _"Yeah, mostly."_ Alex sat up slowly and moved to stand, but Reiner put three fingers out in front of her blocking the ascent.

 _"How many?"_

 _"Twenty-four."_ She said with a blank expression. Reiner's face broadened into a grin but he still continued his questions.

 _"What's your name?"_

 _"Barbara."_ She replied, still acting seriously.

 _"Is that her name?"_

 _"No, it's Alex."_ Said girl interjected, earning a small chuckle from the blonde.

" _Ok, 'Alex' you've not got a concussion so your skull must be made of metal."_ He said. _"So your name's Alex then?"_ Alex nodded in response. _"I'm Reiner, the girl and guy over there are Annie and Bertholdt_." He said, gesturing over to them. _"I'm sorry to be so upfront with you, but can you tell me where we are?"_

 _"You can stop checking for a concussion now Reiner, I'm fine."_ Alex replied, chuckling.

 _"I'm not."_ He said, still smiling but slightly more serious. _"We're lost, could you tell us whereabouts we are behind the walls?"_

 _"Well... The best person to ask about that is Lucas."_

 _"Who's Lucas?"_ He asked with a raised eyebrow.

 _"My friend, he's here helping to look for your friends with Eren."_

 _"Eren's here?"_

 _"Yep, Armin too."_

 _"That's good to hear."_ He said, a relieved look on his face. _"I was worried about those two. Where are they now?"_

 _"They're on the other side of the school, it should only about a ten-minute walk the-"_ The Raven head started to say before a blood-curdling scream reached her ears. Full of fear, making the teen jump, and causing Bertholdt to come quickly from the other side of the auditorium with Annie.

 _"What was that?"_ Bertholdt asked, sweating slightly despite the cold.

 _"That sounded like Lucas."_ Alex said before all her nerves started firing off like bullets. The red-head shot across the hall and straight into the freezing air without a seconds notice. She knew the rest would catch up, and that wasn't important to her at that moment. What was important to her was Lucas. He was her best friend, and she couldn't let anything happen to him or Harry. Whether it was James, a Titan or hell even a monster she would never leave him behind.

 _Never._


	9. One awkward understanding

Chapter 9: One awkward misunderstanding

 **A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and they'll be a new chapter in January. Till then, enjoy the holidays and see you next year!**

 _"Alex! Slow down, wait up!"_ Alex heard Mikasa shout from behind her, but simply chose to ignore it as she kept running in the direction of that blood-curdling scream. Lucas' scream. It still rang through her ears and mind, to the point it began to haunt her very soul. It kept replaying in her head over and over as she sprinted to the cafeteria, adrenaline rushing through her veins. And coming up to the cafeteria doors she started to see several familiar teens standing several meters below an open window.

 _"Alex!"_ She heard a voice shout, this time from in front of her. Her eyes soon began to focus and realized it was Harry standing there. With several others beside him, including Eren and Armin. The red-head ran up to him with Mikasa and the rest still trying to catch up.

 _"What's happened to Lucas, have you seen him?"_ The teen asked desperately.

 _"I heard him screaming and ran straight here with Armin. It was right after we'd found Ymir and Krista, but I haven't seen him so far."_ Harry said, a atmosphere of worry masking his face and tone.

 _"Eren, did you see what happened to him?"_

 _"He climbed up the guttering a few minutes ago after we found out the door was locked, but I couldn't follow behind him because of my leg."_ Eren replied, gesturing to said leg.

 _"Oh no, what happened to it?"_ Krista asked, a concerned look on her face.

 _"I just got in a fight, that's all. It's nothing to worry about."_ Eren replied.

 _"Ever the suicidal bastard, aren't you Eren? Always thinking with your fists first."_ The group heard a male voice say behind them, causing Alex's head to turn in response. And turning around she saw two more faces from another world. One was covered in freckles, with hazel eyes and short black hair. And another with a brown undercut and light brown eyes, but what stood out most to the teen was his long face, reminding her of a horse's.

Then the pieces snapped together, and Alex realized that she knew their names. Marco and Jean.

 _"Dammit Jean, don't you ever shut up!?"_ Eren snapped back, angry at another of Jean's petty insults.

 _"Why should I?"_

 _"Because last time I checked horses shouldn't talk!"_

 _"Who are you calling a horse? At least I don't have an anger streak a mile long!"_

 _"Yeah, well... You have a stick shoved so far up your ass you may as well be a javelin with a horse mask!"_

 _"Is that so? Well, you're such a useless idiot you-"_

 _"Goddammit, will you idiots just shut up for a second!"_ Alex shouted out, causing the teens to stop locking eyes and instead stare right at her, but hell she was too angry to even care at that point. " _My friend just screamed his lungs out and could have been hurt. Or worse! If we're ever going to find him then it needs to be now. And I won't lose a friend tonight because you two couldn't learn to grow up and stop snapping at each other!"_ She yelled at them, her fear slowly devolving into rage. They stopped yelling in each other's faces in response before look away guiltily.

 _"Sorry, Alex."_ Eren said, his tone calm with previous hints of anger absent. _"Lucas went straight in there to try and help my friends and now he could be hurt because of it. We'll stop acting like kids and help look for him, right Jean?"_ He asked the brunette. Though Jean just nodded in response, his eyes downcast and head hung low, unable to look Alex in the eye. _"We'll do everything we can to find him ok?"_

The red-head nodded half-heartedly in response, her mind starting to revert back to a scared and fearful state. Every fibre in her body worried for Lucas. She just hoped the group could find him in time, before who, or rather what dragged him away from her forever.

* * *

And Lucas did the only thing he could.

 _Scream._

The creature heard his cry of fear and pounced forward from the darkness, pushing the teen down off his feet and pinning him against the cold hard ground like a blood-thirsty lion disemboweling its prey. The creature stared at him, it's glowing red eyes aimed straight toward his chest like it was picturing his heart inside its stomach. Out of the darkness, its five-fingered claws emerged and plunges straight into his torso, ready to claw the teen's guts out and feast upon them. Lucas felt the hand go within his jacket, and mentally prepared for the end.

But it didn't pierce his skin.

Instead, the hand pulled out a cherry red apple, one that was left over from his lunch earlier today. It bit down into its brightly-colored flesh, and Lucas got a few glimpses straight into its mouth. Though the teeth within it weren't that of a blood-thirsty monster but instead appeared mostly human in the darkness. Then the hallway lit up again, the illumination from the moon passed through the staffroom window and out into the hallway. It's light once hidden by the deceitful clouds illuminated the creature. Lucas expected to look upon a monster, but what his eyes saw was something else entirely. Or rather, someone.

A girl with red-brown hair, mostly in a ponytail allowing two small strips to flow down her sides. And what had once appeared as red eyes had become a beautiful shade of hazel. Clothed in a jacket bearing the symbol of the cadet corps. Lucas stare dup at her and slowly began to realize that his eyes were looking up at the girl of his dreams. Sasha Braus. She was there in that moment, with him. They continued to stay like that for a few seconds, his eyes just continued to look up in awe still unable to believe his eyes while Sasha munched away at the remnants of the teen's lunch. She then stopped chewing for a moment and slowly looked down on him, her expression changed slightly showing more embarrassed side of human nature.

 _"Oh, uh. I - I'm... Sorry about that. Pouncing on you, I mean. My stomach was just really hungry, and I haven't eaten anything all day. Then I smelt your delicious apple and-"_

 _"It's ok. I understand."_ Lucas said smiling, attempting to kill the awkwardness that hung the air. _"We all get hungry sometimes."_

Sasha then breathed out a small sigh of relief. _"Thanks for understanding."_ She said, smiling. In that one moment, Lucas' mind just left it's thoughts behind somewhere, completely hypnotized by her beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes sparkling in the faint glow of the moonlight. Then his mind returns back to its thoughts, and every nerve in his body jumped in shock as he realized three enormous facts: He'd found Sasha Braus, ranked number nine in the cadet corps and the girl of his dreams. She'd stolen his apple left over from lunch earlier that day. And that she was currently straddling his hips

Then his face went to a cherry red shade, and Lucas could feel every part of his face heat up from embarrassment. _"Ummm... Sasha?"_

 _"Yes?"_ She asked as a piece of apple tumbled around in her mouth.

 _"Could you... please... Stand up?"_ She then looked down and realized the same facts as Lucas, and it became her turn to blush. Her cheeks glowed to a cherry red state, to the point it looked like she had a fever. And then Sasha jumped up quickly off him before offering Lucas her hand.

 _"S-sorry about that. Need a lift?"_ She asked, her hand outstretched towards the brunette to help. He eagerly took it and she pulled him back up easily. Which was pretty surprising, because the teen weighed about twelve stone which he knew was far from pure muscle. Then again, she had been in the military for three years, and all those laps Shadis had put her through probably helped.

 _"Thanks for the lift."_ He said, a cheesy smile plastered on his face.

 _"Don't worry about it."_ She replied, smiling. _"What's your name?"_ She asked.

 _"Lucas Tanner."_ The teen said, offering his hand out towards her.

 _"Sasha Braus."_ She replied, taking it. _"Wait, you said my name earlier. How do you know it?"_

The brunette froze for a second, his mind thinking up an excuse. But what was, in reality, a mere second, felt more like an eternity to him. _"Eren told me about you, I'm with him looking to find you."_

 _"Is that so?"_ She asked, looking sceptically at him, with a raised eyebrow hinting of suspicion. For a second the teen panicked inside, if she'd already figured him out, things could have gone badly. Trying to explain things was difficult enough for him the first time, but even then he'd prepared himself first. Lucas thought she probably wouldn't take it as well as the others had. _"Fair enough."_ She said, changing to a smile and no longer looking suspicious. Lucas breathed out the tiniest sigh of relief. Even if she still thought something was up, he had gained some time to think of what to say in response if she asked again.

 _"Wait._ _How could you smell an apple?"_ Lucas asked, partially confused but mainly looking for a change in subject.

Sasha just shrugged her shoulders in response. _"Beats me, I just can. Where's Eren now? Is he with you?"_ She asked.

 _"Just outside, waiting for us."_

 _"Have you found anyone else yet?"_

 _"We've met Eren, Mikasa, and Armin but regarding everyone else, my friends are probably looking for them."_

 _"Who are your friends?"_

 _"They're called Alex and Harry, we arrived here together and odds are they've found someone else by now with Mikasa and Armin."_

 _"Phew. That's a relief."_ She stated, sighing out in relief.

 _"How were you guys separated anyway?"_ Lucas asked, hoping to probe for more useful information to find the others.

 _"We just ran after Jean was hit by some... weird cart."_ Sasha said though Lucas realized she, of course, meant a car. _"We ran in the same direction, to these buildings. And separated to try and hide."_

 _"Hide from what?"_

 _"That thing that ran straight into horse-face. That... monster would have followed us if we hadn't run!"_ She said defensively. The odds were, her instincts had kicked in shortly after Jean was hit telling her to run, and the others had followed her. Her instincts were reliable after all, and her friends knew that.

 _"The guy inside probably made a mistake hitting him."_

 _"Maybe..."_ She said, a hand to her chin as she thought. _"Well, if you're ready then we should go and find them."_

 _"Sure, but knowing them it's probably going to be hard to find-"_

 _"Goddammit, guys will you shut up for a second!"_ Lucas heard a loud, feminine voice shout from outside.

Sasha jumped back from the sudden sound. _"Who was that?"_ Sasha asked.

 _"Alex, I think."_ Lucas replied.

 _"Why is she shouting?"_ She asked.

 _"I don't know._ _She's usually very cheerful, you don't see her get angry often."_ Lucas answered, confused as to why his friend could sound so angry.

 _"Maybe she's worried about you."_

 _"Probably."_ The brunette stated. _"We should check on her, odds are she's worried."_

 _"That's probably the case. I'd probably end up shouting if my friend was in trouble."_ She said, looking towards the moonlit window. The pair walked over and looked down into the courtyard. Lucas' mouth gaped open in utter shock, as looking down he could see both Alex and Harry, along with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. They'd also managed to find Krista, Ymir, Reiner, Bertholt, Annie, Marco, and even Jean all while he'd been stuck in-doors getting pounced on.

 _"Hey guys, I'm up here!"_ He shouted down, turning everyone's heads towards him. Alex's face lights up in relief while Harry breathed out a short sigh.

 _"Lucas!"_ Alex shouted up. _"Are you alright? We heard you scream!"_

 _"Don't worry, I'm ok ! And I've managed to find Sasha inside."_

 _"Why did you scream like that?"_ Harry asked from below.

 _"uuugghhhh..."_ Lucas hesitated, reluctant to share that rather awkward memory no matter how much he secretly enjoyed it. _"I thought something jumped out at me, just made a small mistake!"_

Harry and Alex looked up, skeptical of him at best. _"You're sure? It's unlike you to scream like that."_ Harry said, disbelieving his rather weak lie.

 _"Yeah, sure."_ Lucas replied, attempting to sound convincing. _"We'll make our way down to you, then it's just a case of finding Connie!"_ The teen then turned his head in Sasha's direction. _"How did you get in?"_ He asked, hoping to find an easier way to get down then climb.

 _"I made my way up that pipe there."_ She said, gesturing to said pipe. _"You?"_

 _"Same."_ The brunette replied, slightly disappointed. Lucas shuffled out to sit on the edge of the windowsill, and prepared to climb back down again. It was bad enough for him the first time, but even then it was just Eren looking. Now? Everyone would see if he seized up, even for a second. Even placing his feet, the teen's mind kept looking for anything to help him get down easier. But all he could see was a useless pool of water and that dreadful pipe.

 _"Wait, do you see that pond?"_ She asked, pointing out to the five meter deep pond about ten meters from them. Lucas had always thought it was pretty stupid for the school to have; a massive water feature in the middle of the school, surrounded by idiots who thought algebra was just combining Maths and English. The last thing they needed, was something for them to fall straight into.

 _"Yeah, what about it?"_ Lucas replied, though his mind slowly started to form an idea while they talked.

 _"How deep does the water go?"_

 _"About five meters I think. Wait, why?"_ Lucas asked her, confused as to why she'd enquire about something like that. But before he could see her intentions, or even glance at the mischievous look on her face she put her hands on his back, and pushed the teen outwards towards the pond. It wasn't that far away, and her push was more than enough to help him reach the pond without a scratch, but the brunette still screamed reflexively on the way down.

And then his body hit the water like jumping head-first into a brick wall. In the struggle of the nights darkness, and the sting of algae in his eyes Lucas pulled himself back up to the surface, shivering from the night's coldness. It was still June, but the cold with no sun and drenched in water made it feel more like December. He grabbed at the nearby edges, and as he was pulling himself out of the freezing cold pond, only one thought could fill his mind.

 _'How could she tell I was starting to think that?'_

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry about missing the deadline, my life caught up with me and I found it hard to finish on time. Hope this makes up for the wait. And sorry if you feel it was a stupid twist, but I figured that pouncing on/at someone with food is a Sasha thing to do (we all remember episode four!) Hope you enjoyed, and see you in the new year!**


	10. A rush to warmth

Chapter 10: A rush to warmth.

 **A/N: Guys, I've got two pieces of news for you guys to hear.  
1: I'm planning to start writing stories for a new fandom based on the results of my poll.  
2: I will, unfortunately, have to put my stories on hold until I finish my exams in June.  
I hope you guys enjoy yourselves and I will be back with more content in June, including a story from a new fandom!  
I will see you guys in June!**

 _"AAAAAHHHHH!"_ Lucas screamed, as he was pushed down into the cold water from Sasha's strong-handed shove. The water first hit against his skin and clothes, like a bruising punch spread over the teen's entire body. Then it started seeping through his jacket and soaked every article of clothing. Everything from his precious superman shirt to his grimy old underwear. Then finally, the chills started crawling up the brunette's spine, the water's icy cold temperature cooling his nerves and soul to below zero easily.

Then after the shock and cold had kicked in, Lucas' body reacted by pulling his arms back and forth in an effort to break the water's surface. His de-oxygenated lungs screamed at him to hurry and live throughout the ordeal. After several seconds of agonizing effort, his head broke free into the air pulling in lungs worth full of air down the teen's throat. Batting his eyes furiously to clear the excess water Lucas tried to scan the new-found environment in a search for warmth, friends or even just somewhere dry to climb out of that freezing pond.

 _"Lucas! Are you ok?"_ Lucas heard a voice shout towards his left, locking the teen's blurred vision in that direction while he kept pushing his arms around in an effort to stay afloat. The dreaded water finally started to clear from his eyes, with a few furious seconds of blinking, and a peculiar sight before him. Standing just beyond the pool, he saw several figures looking inward towards him. Then the situation finally hit Lucas, and the brunette began to climb frantically out to avoid freezing to death.

The freezing chill of water was then replaced by the numbingly cold air biting through his wet clothes and skin, thrusting past the teen's face like a thousand tiny knives. Then the shivers started to control Lucas' body, shaking his arms and legs in an effort to gain a feeling of warmth. His teeth chattered along in a frozen chorus.

 _"What were you thinking? We need to find somewhere warm before you become a popsicle!"_ Alex said, as she took off her coat and placing it around Lucas' shoulders in an effort to trap what little heat remained.

 _"Th-th-thanks."_ Said teen stuttered, the cold slowly taking over his speech.

 _"We should go back home before anything else bad happens."_ Harry suggested to the group.

 _"But what about Connie?"_ Sasha asked, having climbed back down after Lucas' jump.

 _"We'll find him another time Sasha."_ Marco said. _"For now we need to get... Lucas, was it?"_

 _"Y-y-yeah."_ He chattered out.

 _"We need to get Lucas home now before he freezes to death."_

 _"Yeah, I guess you're right."_ Sasha replied in defeat.

 _"W-w-wait, why d-d-didn't you jump d-d-down after p-p-pushing me in?"_ Lucas asked, his teeth chattering together in a furious cold fit.

 _"No, it looked kind of cold to me."_ She said, causing Alex to give off a small giggle.

 _"I r-r-realise that now, t-t-thanks."_ The teen replied sarcastically.

 _"Let's just go back."_ Harry said, indicating towards the school's still open gate.

 _"Yeah, let's go."_ Eren said, as he started walking to the gate.

For the next ten minutes or so they walked back, all the while Lucas kept trying to answer the group's never-ending questions about where they were, who he was and where were the Titans. For the questions, the teen mostly responded with a simple _"I'll explain when we're there."_ Or something along the lines, as he was unable to say the full thing due to a combination of chattering teeth and freezing joints.

But eventually the group arrived back, but this time around Lucas had his spare house keys so they could use the front door. Just as well, if the gate had gotten stuck in the cold again then they would have be in serious trouble. The teen opened the door, pushing himself back into his small sanctuary. Then everyone including him was hit by a sudden blast of warm heat. Luckily he'd had the foresight to turn on the heating ready for their arrival. The brunette looked behind himself to check everyone was there and saw open mouths and wide eyes looking into his home. Of course, he probably should have guessed that the central heating would surprise them.

 _"How is it so warm in here?"_ Jean asked, stepping inside wearily.

 _"Central heating."_ Lucas replied.

 _"What's that?"_ Armin asked.

 _"I'll tell you in a minute, for now, I've got to get changed into something warm. I'll be back downstairs in a minute, so could you wait in the living room for me?"_ The teen enquired as he started to climb the stairs.

 _"Sure..."_ Marco said, though was paying more attention to the strange heat and pictures hanging on the wall. They weren't that jaw-dropping though, just a few holiday pictures from the previous year. Back when his Dad was still around.

 _"Are those... paintings?_ " Ymir asked, looking at said pictures with an unusual curiosity.

 _"Well... Yes and no."_ Lucas replied.

 _"They're really nice!"_ Christa said, smiling towards the teen. _"I've never seen any paintings that well done before."_

 _"Yeah, my dad made them when we went on holiday."_ Lucas said as he recounted all the old memories those pictures carried with them. " _We'd gone to a place called Devon earlier last year. Most of these come from our time there. He always takes pictures when we go away. From our happiest moments to the most embarrassing moments. Or, at least he used to..."_ Lucas said, unable to stop his mind turning melancholy again at the thought of his father. Even after several months, he still wasn't used to him being gone. He continued to wake up in the morning sometimes, half expecting him to come running into his room before school like always to grab his shoulders and shake the teen out of bed.

But looking back at those old photos Lucas found himself back in the same place that he'd been stuck in for the previous month or so. All he could do was realize that his Dad wouldn't come into his room for any more wake-up calls, or walk downtown for a takeaway tea on Friday nights with him, or ever see the rest of his life unfold. He was gone from his life. Forever. And he'd never get to see him again. His happy smile, or his messy brown hair. The worst part was he could never hear him say 'I love you' again.

 _"Lucas... Why are you crying?"_ Alex asked, looking concerned. The teen looked back to my friends and realized that his eyes had started watering, right in front of everyone.

 _"Nothing, it's nothing."_ Lucas said, as he wiped the forming tears from my eyes before they had a chance to fall. _"It's just from the cold outside, that's all. I'll see you guys in a second."_ He said, before turning around and running upstairs to his room. Lucas couldn't believe that he'd just let himself cry right in front of them. They'd known him for less than an hour and already he was crying over a stupid picture. How would he convince them about the truth if he couldn't keep his damned emotions in check?

After about a minute or so he'd changed into a dressing gown and blue pajamas, said clothing was made of thick wool and perfect for cold weather. Or in his case, perfect for after a swim in a freezing pond. Once satisfied that his dressing gown was properly held against his body, and that the pyjamas were properly fitting he walked down towards the living room and opened the door, looking in to see everyone had gathered.

The room in question wasn't the one with the TV Lucas had used earlier that day for explaining to Eren and his friends, as that wouldn't have accommodated everyone sitting. The current room, however, despite having no TV or any high tech, would be perfect for explaining to the group. Everyone was sat across five different sofas: with the Shiganshina trio on one; Reiner, Berholt, and Annie on the second; Ymir and Christa having taken the third; Jean, Marco and Sasha looking at him from the fourth and finally Harry and Alex on the fifth. Some people looked towards him with hints of worry on their faces, including Alex.

 _"Lucas, are you feeling ok?"_ Said teen asked, concerned about earlier.

 _"I'm fine, don't worry about it."_ The teen lied, not wanting to tell his new-found group about his dad just yet. Things were difficult enough without drama filling the atmosphere. _"Mind if I sit there?"_ He asked, gesturing towards the empty seat between Harry and Alex.

 _"Of course!"_ She replied, a hint of a smile returning to her face.

Lucas sat down, putting all his weight onto the couch's delicate frame. He then took a deep breath, looking towards the others on the couch. There was a lot at stake in that moment, one bad word or one wrong interpretation meant that any hopes of keeping the group together would go flying outside the window. _"I'm guessing you guys have a lot of questions on your mind."_

 _"Yeah, definitely."_ Jean started. _"A good starting place would be with what the hell hit me earlier."_

 _"I'm more curious about how your house is heated with no fire."_ Reiner added on.

 _"Forget that all that I wanna know about is how your dad can paint that well."_ Ymir said, stopping any thoughts Lucas had gathered up in their tracks.

 _"Ymir!"_

 _"What? I'm just asking a question, Christa."_ She pointed out before said girl pulled her ear up to her mouth and whispers something Lucas couldn't make out. Guessing it was probably something along the lines of _'remember what happened earlier'_ and _'show some tact'_.

 _"Well I knew you guys would have questions, but for now there's something important you need to hear."_ Lucas said, more or less silencing their questions. _"Do you guys know where we are right now?"_ He asked them, on the off chance one of them had already figured it out. But to no surprise, they all shook their heads. With the exception of Annie, who more or less just sat there bored. _"Well, you're currently in Manchester, England. The year is... 2017."_

Lucas slowly started to see several pairs of eyes widen, and mouths gape open from what was either a huge revelation or a huge amount of scepticism. _"What the hell do you mean 2017!?"_ Jean asked, loudly.

 _"Jean, try and calm down."_ Marco said, placing a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. _"Lucas, what you're saying is impossible. We couldn't have gone over a thousand years into the future."_

 _"Trust me, I'm telling you the truth."_ Lucas tried to explain to them. _"Think about it; you arrive in a strange place where it's suddenly gone dark in the space of a few moments, you end up seeing a horse with no carriage, lights that can turn off and back on again, pictures that look like they're from a memory and a toasty warm house with no fire to speak of."_

 _"How would time travel even be possible?"_ Reiner asked.

 _"Well, when I say you've ended up in 2017, it's not the 2017 your world would ever see."_ Lucas said, catching their attention. _"This world you're in now is different to the world you woke up in. This world never faced the threat of the Titans that yours has, and because of that, we've never had to make the walls."_

 _"Wait, so you're saying the Titans don't exist here?"_ Marco asked.

 _"More or less."_ Lucas replied.

The people on the couches, save for Lucas' couch, just sat there wide-eyed and mouths hanging open. Lucas couldn't help but think maybe he should have broken it to them a little more slowly. _"Does that means humanities free of the Titans?"_ Jean enquired, causing Lucas to nod in response. _"Well, I guess there goes my ticket to the MP's."_ Jean said, sitting back as he looked defeated.

 _"Seriously!"_ Eren said, drawing everyone's eyes to his voice. _"We finally find a place where the Titans are gone, and your first instinct is to think about your place in the MP's!"_

 _"Well, at least I won't go back and rush straight at them like you will."_

 _"Horseface!"_

 _"Suicidal bastard!"_

 _"Oh, it is on!"_ He said, jumping to his feet while jean clenched his fists ready for a fight. But before either of them could throw a punch Lucas quickly stepped in between the two.

 _"Guys! We don't have time for this, bigger things are at stake than this!"_ Lucas said, putting himself between them before they had the chance to start fighting again.

 _"...Fine."_ Jean said, sitting down. Eren soon followed suit, but not before staring straight at Jean, his emerald eyes giving off a low-key anger.

 _"Now when I say that Titans don't exist, they are technically real but here they're treated as... Fictional."_ Lucas stated. _"And so are the walls. And the survey corps."_

 _"What!"_ The room said, unanimously shocked and confused.

 _"How is that possible!?"_

 _"Everything in our world's a lie!?"_

 _"I hope everyone's still ok."_

 _"They'll be fine Christa."_

 _"The Titans can't be fake, people have died fighting them!"_

 _"Does this mean the MP's are gone too?"_

 _"Shut up about the MP's already!"_

 _"Can you all just please be quiet for a second!"_ Lucas shouted out, more or less silencing everyone's arguments and questions. With the exception of a few whispers here and there. _"Now I know this is a lot to take in."_ He start saying, changing his tone and keeping his volume low. _"But you need to try and look on the positive side of things. Now you can live a life free from the Titans, and finally see things you would have never seen before. Not to mention you have an entirely new world to explore."_ The teen said as he looked around, to see people slowly starting to agree with him. _"So don't worry. We're going to be here, every step of the way."_ He said, gesturing towards Harry and Alex. _"Right guys?"_ The pair in question nodded in response, though Alex acted more enthusiastic than Harry. _"What do you think?"_ He asked the room.

 _"I don't know..."_ Reiner hesitated, stroking his chin. _"What do you think about this Armin?"_ His words turned people's attention towards said teenager, who was taken aback by the sudden stares from his comrades.

 _"What he's saying has more than enough evidence to back it up, and this isn't exactly something you'd want to lie about."_ He said, not only reassuring everyone there but also making things that little bit easier for Lucas.

 _"Well you're right, but I still can't believe that this could be possible."_ Marco said.

 _"I think we should go to bed, today's been a long day and we all need sleep. I'll answer any and all questions you have in the morning."_ Lucas said to the group, seeing the dark bags that had formed under their eyes, it was evident they all needed some form of rest. _"I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise we will have everything figured out."_

* * *

Connie continued to walk down the street, looking upon the strange buildings and the strange carts. He couldn't help but feel worried about his well being, along with the state of his friend's. None of what he was seeing seemed real, nothing made sense anymore. Horseless carriages, night-time in the space of a few minutes. Nothing was familiar.

But just when he started to think the worst had come to pass, a grey horseless carriage pulled up to him with the window pulled down, revealing a young woman in her twenties, with brown hair and deep blue eyes.

 _"Are you lost, sweetie?"_ She asked, sounding concerned.

 _"Yeah, I've lost my friends. Have you seen them?"_ Connie asked, looking for any kind of useful info.

 _"Hmphh... No, but you can stay with me till you find them if you want."_ She said, gesturing towards the side seat.

 _"Sure, thanks."_ He said, before walking around to the side door and sitting down.

But as he sat himself down, and shut the metal door behind him with a strange 'click' sound, he didn't notice the small grin that had taken over her face, for she had just completed the last phase of her research. Years of experimentation and hiding, after all that effort she could finally learn how her goals would be achieved.


	11. Words matter

Chapter 11: Words matter.

 **A/N: Sorry for the long wait! The exams are finally vanquished and providing they don't come back to haunt me I'll be writing for the rest of the month. Hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter, and see you guys soon! And just a heads up, from here on out there will be spoilers for both seasons one and two. I'll wait until season three's finished to do anything with that part of the story.**

 _"Are you definitely sure it's ok if we stay here?"_ Marco asked, looking concerned.

 _"Yeah, it should be fine, providing Sarah's ok with it."_ Lucas replied.

 _"Who's Sarah?"_ Reiner asked the teen.

 _"My guardian, she helps look after me."_ The brunette responded, before rising out of his seat and leaving the room. _"If you need a minute, then feel free to stay behind for a minute. I'll go up and prepare a room for you guys."_ He called out into the room before some of the group started making their way up the stairs, lagging slightly behind him.

 _"How do you light up the house like this?"_ Armin asked looking at the lights, his curiosity getting the better of him.

 _"Because of something called electricity, it was invented around two hundred years ago. I can explain it another time if you want."_ Lucas replied, before reaching the guest room's door. He clamped his palm around the doorknob, before thrusting the entrance open. His hand then found the light switch before flicking it down to reveal the room in a flash of white light. Said room wasn't exactly fancy, only having a modest set of furniture, but still had more aesthetic than the average bedroom's standard. The white walls and crisp bed sheets gave off a relaxed feeling as the group stepped through the door.

 _"It's not much, but it's better than nothing."_ Lucas said, looking behind himself to see most of the group, save for Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, who were most likely still in the room downstairs.

 _"Thanks... But is there enough room for all of us?"_ Marco asked, looking towards the collection of beds. Considering there were only seven beds before them, it would have been more than natural to wonder about space.

 _"Don't worry about it."_ Lucas said, slightly smirking as he walked up to the bed closest the door before thrusting his hands beneath it. They then retracted, revealing a flat mattress on wheels concealed under the standard bunk, though stripped of its bedding.

 _"There's fourteen altogether, seven standard and seven lower down."_ He pointed out, indicating towards said beds. _"I'll grab the bedding from the attic storage, but you'll need to sort out sleeping arrangements between yourselves."_

 _"But where are you gonna sleep?"_ Jean asked.

 _"My room's upstairs; Alex and Harry usually sleep up there when they come round."_ He said, beginning the walk to the bathroom for bedding. _"If you need anything, I'll be on the third floor, first door to the right."_ He called back, before going back down the creaking old stairs, squeaking as if to a musical beat. Continuing to walk down the corridor, he started making mental notes of what he'd need and where from. However, before reaching the linen closet, the teen overheard a conversation emanating from behind the opened sitting room door. His desire for knowledge got the better of him, resulting in his ear becoming lightly pressed against the door.

 _"What are we supposed to do now Reiner? If we really are in another world, what's our goal from here on out?"_ He heard presumably Bertholt ask.

 _"I can't say for certain, but for now we should just play it by ear."_ Reiner responded, his voice low and tone stern.

Of course, the teen had already guessed that the shifters would bring their own set of problems, they could end up changing everything for his world along with theirs. Granted Eren didn't know about his own ability at that point, and Ymir could still be considered an ally. As she'd never directly opposed the Survey Corps in the show.

But the Warriors three carried massive complications. Annie would have gone on to kill some of the most elite scouts if not for her leaving the timeline, including the Levi squad. Though there was still a small chance the others could come around. However, Reiner and Bertholt. They'd destroyed a good chunk of Humanity before, and even if they did show regret he doubted the others would be quick to forgive.

Lucas knocked on the door lightly, before walking in. Annie barely notices him, while Bertholt straightened up slightly and Reiner took on a passive smile.

 _"You doing ok Lucas?"_ Reiner asked him.

 _"I'm fine, just seeing if you're ok."_ The teen lied, seeing an opportunity to try and gain some more info.

 _"Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Would you mind if I ask you something?"_

 _"Ask away."_ Lucas responded.

 _"Would everything from 'our world' be complete fiction? Including what's beyond the wall?"_ Reiner asked. While most would have assumed he was simply enquiring out of curiosity, Lucas realized exactly what Reiner was asking. If his 'hometown' still existed, or whether that was gone too. Granted the brunette didn't actually know much about his origins, the fact he was asking about it definitely speaks volumes. Having read the manga would have come in real handy around about that time. As he, like most of the people at his school, had only seen the anime.

 _"Most likely."_ The teen replied, causing Reiner's smile to slowly fade away. _"But don't worry! Now you've finally got the chance to escape the Titans, once and for all! Now, you can choose your own fate."_ He said, putting an emphasis on 'fate'. Granter, Lucas knew he did technically choose to destroy humanity, but there was still some good left in him. There had to be some way he could fight with the survey corps, not against them.

 _"Sounds good."_ Reiner said, a tired smile on his face. _"I think I'll head to bed, which room is ours?"_ He asked.

 _"Go up the stairs, down the hallway and first door on your right. You guys are sharing a room if it's ok."_

 _"It's fine. You coming, Bertholt?"_

 _"Y-yeah."_ Bertholt replied, slightly sweating.

 _"May as well sleep, not like there's anything else to_ do. _"_ Annie muttered, her expression stoic and bored. The group moved to the stairs while Lucas continued to the linen closet. He grabbed several bedsheets and duvets, though was only able to carry three of each at once. Meaning much to the teen's dismay, it would require several trips to gather them all.

* * *

Several minutes later, Lucas found himself stood at the guest room's door. Everyone having discussed there sleeping arrangements, though Jean had gotten into a heated argument with Eren over Mikasa and who would sleep next to her. Said raven-head flushing profusely at the phrasing Eren had used to describe 'sleeping with her'. In the end, the shifter had taken the bed near Armin, and Jean above Marco while Sasha offered to bunk with Mikasa. Everyone else found a bed and settled down into their normal clothes, only taking their boots, jackets, and belts off.

 _"Now I know things may look difficult."_ Lucas began. _"But in the morning, I'll have a plan for our next move and we can just go from there. Till then, just focus on getting some rest."_

 _"What time should we wake up?"_ Marco asked.

 _"Anytime after eight should do."_ Lucas responded. _"I'll aim for breakfast to be finished for eight-thirty, that gives you half an hour to come round."_

 _"What's for breakfast?"_ Sasha asked, to no one's surprise.

 _"I don't know... Is everyone ok with bacon and eggs?"_ Lucas asked the room, causing a few smiles to appear. But the looks of happiness soon changed to that of confusion and disgust, as everyone looked over to see Sasha was drooling heavily onto her pillow over the thought of food.

 _"Delicious... Juicy... Meat... hehe."_ Sasha practically salivated out, causing some people's skin to start crawling.

 _"I'll take that as a yes then, Alex and Harry are upstairs as am I if you need anything. Goodnight guys."_ Lucas said, about to close the guest door.

 _"Wait, Lucas?"_ Eren called out before said teen left.

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Thank you, for helping us I mean. We owe you big time."_ Eren said, slightly smiling.

 _"Your welcome. Goodnight."_ Lucas said fully closing the guest room door before he started heading back downstairs, grabbing a dormant laptop on his way from off the kitchen table before heading into the front room.

The teen sat down, grabbed a can of diet coke and fired up his computer. Ready to do some research into how his new-found friends had found their way into his world. And maybe a few funny videos in-between. His hand grasped the mouse with an air of confidence, ready to begin what would surely become a long night.

* * *

Five hours and several google searches later, Lucas hit yet another dead end in his research. Having searched practically everything, science communities, mathematics institutes, engineering forums, hell even Fanfiction and Tumblr! And yet still, there wasn't a single clue as to how they'd got here or why they ended up where they did. He was just about prepared to give up, but then suddenly heard several knocks at the door, three gentle hits against the old oak that heightened his fear before it finally came back down.

 _"Come_ in. _"_ The teen muttered quietly, closing the near-dead laptop down before putting the piece of technology to the side. Leaving the room lit by a single lamp, its dull glow illuminated the almost empty room along with the small amounts of early sunlight that passed through the curtains. The door slowly creaked open, shattering the silence like glass. Through the door walked in a girl, about his age with red-brown hair in a messy ponytail.

 _"Hey Sasha, you ok?"_ Lucas asked, before yawning slightly from fatigue.

 _"What are you doing up? It's five thirty in the morning."_ She asked, her voice and tone visibly concerned.

 _"No reason."_ Lucas evaded, attempting to avoid the question. _"What are you doing up?"_

 _"Honestly?"_

 _"Honestly."_ Lucas said prompting Sasha to sit down on the couch beside him.

 _"I can't sleep, I'm too worried about my dad."_ She said, quietly. _"When he finds out I've gone, he could worry about me."_

 _"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine."_ Lucas brushed off, in an attempt to lighten her worries.

 _"Yeah, but the problem is... We're not exactly on speaking terms at the minute."_ She answered, looking downwards almost in shame.

 _"It's ok. No matter what, he'll always love you. That's what dads are for."_ Lucas reassured, despite feeling an internal sting from talking of fathers due to the memories of his own.

 _"Thanks, Lucas."_ Sasha replied, hints of a smile on her face. _"It helps. And since we're talking, could you tell me why you're really awake right now? You kind of dodged the question."_ She enquired, causing a pang of hurt to start making itself known.

Lucas sighed heavily, before beginning his story. _"Ok... I'll tell you. But can you keep it between us for now?"_ He ask Sasha before she answers with a gentle nod. _"I'm partly up to try and research how you got here, but mostly because I don't really sleep much anymore."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"Well... It all started about three months ago, my dad was making his way home from work. It was just a business meeting, nothing special_." Lucas said, his voice and tone started to tremble with his words weakly crawling their way out. The teen gasped for air and tried to continue. _"It was that night my mom and I waited and waited for him to get back, but he never arrived."_

He involuntarily paused, drawing in a very shaky breath, only to feel moist tears starting to drip down his cheek before he could even get any words out. _"In the morning, the Police carried out a search and finally found him. Or rather, what was left of him."_ The tears started falling more heavily down his cheeks, like sad little streams, but the teen couldn't care any less about them or the water they wasted. All he wanted in that moment was to cry, pour out everything that had been bottled in for so long. _"He'd been shot, straight through his forehead. But they'd left his wallet full of cash on the side of the road. There'd been no reason to kill him. No motive, no purpose, they'd just shot him down for the sake of taking him out-"_ The brunette tried to continue on in a desperate attempt, but found himself unable to do anything except cry.

The tears flooded down Lucas' face and the quiet cries completely seized up his vocal chords. Leaving the teen in a desperate state of self-pity and sorrow. He didn't bother wiping the tears away from his face, or even try to quieten the growing cries. All he could focus on were those horrible, horrible memories that had caused so much pain and suffering. So focused in fact, that he didn't even register Sasha moving towards him until her arms wrapped gently around his shoulders.

 _"None of that was your fault Lucas."_ Sasha said softly in an attempt at comfort him.

 _"I know it wasn't. I know."_ Lucas tried to say between his uncontrolled sobs and cries. _"But he's still gone regardless, now I'm all alone. Plus my Mom practically hates my guts!"_

 _"Why would she..."_

 _"My dad left everything to me in his will,"_ He interrupted. "B _ut not a fraction of it to my Mom. She had a meltdown and was forced into therapy."_ Lucas explained, his crying and sobbing having devolved into hiccups and weak cries. _"Say what you want about my Dad, there's no way anyone will convince me that's not my fault. I'm what made her go mad, it's because of me that she's-"_ He continued to cry out, but only for mere moments.

As in one slick motion, Sasha motioned herself and his head around to the point she was looking into his tear filled azure eyes. _"Lucas, look at me."_ She said, her voice a strange combination of soft and stern. _"Never blame yourself for that. You had no control back then, there was nothing you could have done so don't try and take all the guilt yourself. Ok? You don't have to anymore."_ She said, silencing the teen's cries.

 _"O-ok..."_ Lucas uttered weakly, before pulling Sasha's body into a warm embrace, clinging to her for dear life before he started to cry out again. Though much more gently than before. She returned the hug, wrapping her arms gently around his neck bringing him close. Before he knew it, Lucas' exhausted eyes fell down, covering his world in a pitch black darkness and plunged him into a deep sleep.

 **A/N: Hey! Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, just don't be mad about it being slightly short and mildly boring. I'm uploading two chapters at once as a huge surprise and a thank you for hanging in there through my exams.**


	12. Unanswerable questions

Chapter 12: Unanswerable questions.

 **A/N: Just a heads up, but from now on I'm switching to the third person and the past tense for the continuation of this story, hope you don't mind too much.**

Sasha continued to stir in her sleep, before the sound of birds and rustling branches soon awoke her from slumber. Wiping the sleep from her eyes as she yawned deeply, her fatigue was still evidently present from the night before. But that sense of sloth soon melted away as she started to smell a delicious heavenly scent, warm and juicy. Full of flavor and wonder. Almost as if she could reach out and take a bite out of it.

 _Meat._

She jumped off the brown couch, pushing the blanket once draped over her onto the floor, not bothering to think as to how it could have got there. Seconds later she burst straight into a gleaming white kitchen, filled with a heavenly scent emanating from within a strange object Lucas was currently stood before. Said teen, with an apron and strange gloves on his person, reached into a strange glass box before his eye caught her standing there.

 _"Morning Sasha. You feeling ok?"_ He asked as he pulled out a tray full of food, apparent dark grey bags still lying beneath his eyes.

Sasha surveyed the assortment of breakfast items laid out on the tray while her jaw hit the metaphorical floor. There were eggs with beautiful golden yolks and bacon bestowed straight from the hands of a god. Making Sasha's mouth salivate vividly and her eyes fixate upon the almost alien items. _"Y-yeah... say, is that almost ready?"_ The red-head asked.

 _"Almost, they just need about two minutes to cool down."_ Lucas said, placing the black tray down on the marble countertop. _"Sleep well last night?"_

 _"Not bad..."_ Sasha said, remembering back to the night before and what had happened to Lucas. Unable to avoid feeling pity for the young teen. _"Are you alright?"_

 _"Yeah. Slightly tired, but that was honestly the best nights sleep in months."_ He says, a tired smile on his face. _"Thanks."_

 _"For what?"_

 _"Listening to me, it's been a nice change having someone to talk to. I 'm actually starting to feel better for once."_ The brown-haired teen said as he removed his protective gloves and stark white apron. Though his face was reverting back to that sorrow-filled look she'd observed all of the night before.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, taking a seat.

 _"I'm good, thanks anyway though."_ He said, attempting to put on a smile. _"I'm gonna wake the others up, it's already 8:35 so we need to get up now."_

 _"Why did you let us sleep in?"_

 _"You looked like you needed it. How much time do you get to sleep in the cadet corps? I'm just curious."_ Lucius asked.

 _"From dusk till dawn."_ Sasha answered, resulting in Lucas' eyes widening slightly. _"It's not so bad in winter, but in summertimes like this, it was absolutely horrible. While we had a set time for sleeping, there was no time for waking up. Sleep would either be average length or last what felt like ten minutes."_

 _"Man... You guys really are the real deal."_ Lucas said, clearly impressed. _"I'll be down in two minutes, but please do me a favor and don't try to eat just yet. It's still hot, I wouldn't want you to burn yourself."_

 _"You could just say don't eat it, I know you're just phrasing it that way because I'd probably eat it all otherwise."_ She says, chuckling to herself.

 _"I'm not. Once it's cooled down enough feel free to grab a plate and dig in."_ Lucas says as he walks towards the stairs, prompting Sasha to look towards the plate with yearning eyes and a ravenous appetite.

* * *

Lucas walked into the guest bedroom, his footsteps like a ghost and his movements like a wolf in the darkness. Swift and quiet. Looking at the sleeping bodies of his friends. It still excited him to think of the cadets as his friends, heroes willing to call him a companion. Said heroes were sprawled across their individual beds in very different ways. Eren was starting to drool slightly off the edge of his bed and unfortunately straight onto Armin's hair. Said blonde was still sleeping peacefully below his friend, in a deep dream, most likely fantasizing about the ocean and everything else he had yet to see.

Jean and Marco were sleeping in fairly normal positions, while the brown-haired horse-face slept on his left side, Marco slept on his right below. Ymir had predictable crawled out of her own bed and slept on Christa's bunk. Though it looked like they hadn't gone too far the night before. Lucas and pretty much everyone in the fandom knew those two were close, yet they still had yet to see them truly state their feelings.

Lucas continued to survey the slumbering cadets, looking upon Mikasa's reserved sleeping compared to Bertholdt's... interesting position, though the teen still couldn't figure out the best way to wake them up. He was trying to consider his best option when he noticed Eren start to stir. The brunette had started to toss and turn, but unfortunately, his body failed to process the motions it was making, resulting in him falling straight onto Armin below, waking up the blonde along with the rest of the sleepers from the crash he made.

 _"E-Eren!"_ Armin yelled out, annoyed as he pushed him off. Said teen was still fatigued from the previous night, struggling to reach his feet in a dazed state.

 _"What happened?"_ Eren asked, still half asleep.

 _"You fell out of bed, dumbass."_ Jean retorted as he stretched off the exhaustion from his sleep.

 _"Shut up Jean."_ The teen responded, still partially zoned out.

 _"You guys ok?"_ Lucas asked, standing awkwardly by the door.

 _"I'll be better when we've all come round."_ Armin replied, picking himself off the ground. _"What time is it?"_

 _"Eight thirty-seven."_ Lucas stated, looking at my watch. _"Take your time getting up, and I'll be downstairs when you're ready."_

 _"Thanks Lucas."_ Eren said as the teen walked out towards the stairs, hoping Sasha hadn't already eaten everything. Not that he'd mind, it just meant that everyone else wouldn't get some.

* * *

Several minutes, and plates of food later, the group was leaning back into their chairs with full stomachs and grins on their faces from their unusually filling meals, before Lucas started to address the elephant in the room.

 _"So... How are you guys feeling this morning?"_ Lucas asked nervously, expecting a backlash from the teens.

 _"Not bad... Still, a bit shook up over this whole 'new world' thing."_ Reiner said.

 _"It's not as bad as it sounds, trust me."_ Lucas attempted to reassure him.

 _"Well... What are the chances we can get home?"_ Marco asked, turning a few heads.

 _"Why the hell would you want to go back?"_ Jean asked. _"Eren I could easily see going, but you?"_

 _"What the hell's that supposed to mean, horse face!"_ Eren shouted at him, rising from his seat in anger.

" _Jean, Eren, please... For now, we need to focus on the important stuff and avoid fighting, ok?"_ Lucas pleaded before the two reluctantly backed down, returning to their seats. _"Honestly Marco, I don't know. But we can find out."_

 _"How?"_ Armin asks, curious.

 _"Well one thing I've figured out for sure is that something, or someone, must have brought you here, there's no it was a coincidence you happened to arrive not only apart but also in different time frames. Meaning there's someone out there who knows how you arrived, and possibly how to send you back."_ Lucas said, widening a few eyes. " _But Marco, is there a reason for you to go back? I'm not judging or anything, I'm just curious."_ Lucas asked the freckled teen.

 _"Honestly? I feel bad for leaving everyone in our world to fight the Titans while we sit around in paradise. Plus, I'm starting to worry about my family."_ Marco responded, drawing some peoples thoughts back to their own family and friends left behind.

" _Well... Maybe we could find a way to help them out?"_ Harry interjected. _"Maybe upgrade their tech a bit."_

 _"Huh... Hadn't thought about it that way."_ Lucas pondered, thinking some modern weaponry would definitely help take down Titans. _"You guys think it would help?"_

 _"Well_ yeah. _"_ Sasha responded. _"Having horseless carriages would definitely help us fight them better, plus lights and heating would be nice."_

 _"Sure... Just an FYI though, they're called 'cars', and are a bit more complicated than you think."_

 _"What does FYI mean?"_ Christa asked.

" _For your information, it's just an acronym. We use a few these days in slang."_ Lucas said, resulting in a few raised eyebrows before he continued. _"Getting back on track, I'm proposing we start working on three things: First, we find where Connie's gone. Second, look for the reason behind your arrival and possibly who could have caused it. And third, we-"_

 _"Lucas? Who are these people?"_ The group hears a feminine voice ask, turning their heads towards the source to look upon a young woman most of them failed to recognize. With short blonde hair and deep brown eyes, dressed in a light blue nightgown and holding a small phone in her left palm.

" _Erm... Morning Sarah."_ Lucas said awkwardly.

 _"Hi, Miss Forskare!"_ Alex said cheerfully, still munching on a piece of toast.

 _"Are these your friends?"_ The woman asks, still standing in the doorway.

 _"There... Exchange students! Yes, they're staying here for a week while their new dorms are being worked on!"_ Lucas replied, a little too enthusiastic to try and pass the lie off.

 _"Ok... I'm gonna make some coffee, you kids want some?"_

 _"Yeah no, we're good."_ Lucas responds before anyone has the chance to ask 'what is coffee?'.

 _"K."_ The woman replies, pulling out a carton of milk from the freezer along with a pack of coffee granules.

 _"We'll be upstairs for a while, shout me if you need me!"_ Lucas said, gesturing for the group to follow behind him.

 _"See you in a bit!"_ Sarah replied, but by the time she'd finished speaking the group was long gone.

* * *

Upstairs in the guest room, the group was all sat on beds save for Lucas who was sat surrounded by the group, having pulled up a small chair from the corner. _"Well... That was awkward."_

 _"You don't say?"_ Jean rhetorically mocked.

 _"As I was saying before, we need to first focus on finding Connie, then start figuring out how you guys got here and finally focus on learning everything we can about your world."_

 _"Why would we do that?"_ Eren asked.

 _"Because if anyone, or anything, from your world, finds its way through it would help to have some more info on them or it."_

 _"Why should we need to study a hundred and five years of Humanity getting its ass_ kicked? _"_ Jean said while Eren audibly gritted his teeth in anger.

 _"Technically the point you were all pulled from was right before the tides started to_ turn. _"_ Lucas said, resulting in a near-unanimous raised eyebrow.

 _"Wait-wait, what do you mean before the tides started to turn?"_ Armin asked.

 _"Well... You guys were taken from the end of the fourth episode back in season one before the start of the Trost arc. This means-"_

 _"Wait, hang on a second. You'd already lost me at 'episode', could you maybe try and call back to help the rest of us understand for once?"_ Ymir interrupted, resulting in a small word from Christa before Lucas continued.

 _"Sorry, I'll just explain quickly so you guys get a general idea. With an anime, the content is separated out into sections called 'seasons', like how the year is divided into the four seasons. These are then split out further into episodes, like how months are separated out into days. You with me so far?"_ The teen asked the room, observing the majority of nods and a few faces that clearly couldn't care less.

 _"Each episode is about twenty minutes long, and there's usually between twelve and twenty-four episodes in a season. You guys are from the start, around the fourth episode. Just before the main story started."_

 _"So... it was right after we left that Humanity began its counter-attack, and finally started to beat the Titans?"_ Eren asked, slightly disappointed.

" _Well... yeah, but that's actually a good place to start from. Think about it, loads of events have yet to happen in your world, plus there's loads of info you can learn before even having to face combat."_

 _"And no-one's dead yet."_ Alex added, before hastily covering her mouth. Regrettably too late to undo the damage.

 _"What do you mean by that? Do the majority of us end up dying in the end?"_ Bertholt asked, visibly sweating from Alex's unfortunate blunder which Lucas would soon have to right.

 _"Not really... A few of you do, but that doesn't really matter anymore, that timeline is no longer possible. Your destiny has been changed now, there's no way to avoid it."_

 _"What do you mean timeline?"_ Jean asked, making Lucas mentally facepalm himself in frustration. _'This is gonna be a long week.'_ He thought to himself drearily. It looked like he'd have to explain practically everything to them. Not that he'd mind, but it'd still take up a good deal of time.

 _"Think of a timeline as a dirt path, and that every time you change something or choose not to, you switch between the different paths. Like how your actions change which timeline you're in. When you came here, you switched from one path to another, and now you simply can't switch back. Now you've got an entirely different fate to when you left."_

 _"Lucas?"_ Sasha asked.

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Could I get a glass of water? My head's starting to hurt."_ Sasha says, gently massaging her temples in response to Lucas' endless reveals along with several of the others.

 _"Maybe... we should go out for a walk."_ Lucas suggested, rising to his feet.

 _"Sounds boring. I'm out."_ Annie said, lying down on her bed visibly bored by practically everything the others were saying.

 _"Come on Annie."_ Reiner encouraged. _"It'd be good for us. Get some fresh air, look around, come on."_

 _"_ No. _"_ Annie said defiantly, rolling onto her side.

 _"I'll buy us some donuts."_ Lucas hummed, having learned of Annie's love of donuts from reading one of the spinoff manga series, offering her something she wanted to try and gain her trust. Even temporarily.

 _"...Fine."_ The blonde replied, rising from her bed to grab her trainee jacket. _"Where are we going?"_

 _"You'll see."_ Lucas said, a small smirk growing on his face. With everything that was happening, the teen knew the perfect place to try and piece together the massive puzzle laid out before him.

 **A/N: Sorry if this wasn't what you were hoping for, but it's all I've been able to write between exams and school work. I promise there'll be another chapter coming up as soon as it's finished. By the start of next month!**


	13. Shopping spree

Chapter 13: Shopping spree

 **A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to write, I'm currently facing a serious case of writer's block. Working out stuff like the stories' direction is proving to be difficult at best. But at least, for now, I know where I want to take this.**

 **Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next update!**

 **(And just an FYI, anyone confused by the first half of the chapter, just re-read chapter three. Should hopefully clear things up.)**

John still found himself wishing that he'd died earlier in the week.

Ever since James had bit the dust along with the rest of his friends, things for both him and the gang kept going from bad to worse. He'd been put in charge of a shrinking organisation with less influence than a grain of sand. Despite his superior's visions of grandeur, which were about as realistic as a Michael Bay film, their group wouldn't last the month the way they were heading.

The problems didn't seem to stop there either, as he'd been forced by his boss into visiting his best friends' parents. Or rather, former best friend. Only for him to waltz in and look them both in the eye to confidently say he hadn't seen James. Forced to keep spreading the lie that he was just missing. Tell the tale of how he'd just fallen off the face of the earth. Hardly believable at best, and made all the more worst having to see a strong, burly man and a confident, tattooed young woman reduced to tears by a lie he'd help spread.

And just to rub salt on the wound, he couldn't even avenge his fallen friends. All dreams and desires of stabbing their killer to death in some back alley were all but non-existent. As going after the shooter was impossible for him. Killing a psychopath would have been bad enough, even if he wasn't acting as his boss on the side.

That effectively kept him wedged into the crime business whether he liked it or not.

And things just seemed to get worse, as a meeting with his boss was clearly showing as it picked up pace.

 _"Ok... So we're doing this, why?"_ John asked his sitting superior as the teen stood before him. Back in the same office he'd already grown accustomed to seeing in the last twelve or so hours.

Only it hadn't changed since Friday's 'incident' had ocurred. Save for the left over bodies being removed and buried. But the marks of their deaths still showed in the walls. As despite his efforts, not mattering in the slightest that he'd scrubbed until his hands had bled from their blisters, the stains of brains and blood plaguing the walls and floors still gave him a grim reminder of what awaited him in the event he failed.

 _"That's none of your concern. You'll find out within the month."_ The sitting man stated coldly, his dark tone and tensed posture screaming at the young thug to shut the hell up. Unless he wanted to die with an unanswered question on his lips. _"Reversing the subject, let's see what information your little 'stakeout' brought to light."_

John took in a deep breath, noting the way his hand shook behind his back, before beginning his account. Mentioning every little detail he could remember while trying not to stutter or hesitate. Fearing the slightest mistake could end him. _"I followed one of the newcomers, just like you asked. The bald one, around my age and height. He walked for just over ten minutes away from the school before a car pulled up alongside him."_

 _"Then my suspicions are correct. She's taken the first one available to her, and left the rest behind to suffer. Cruel, but effective."_ The man stated matter-of-factly, but all John could focus on was hiding away all of the murderous thoughts that filled his mind before they found their way to his face.

It was frustratingly ironic, the mass murderer who killed followers that even hinted incompitence dared to call another human being cruel. It made the teen want to slit his throat, right there and then.

However, glancing back to the stains on the wall, John remembered once again that killing him was an impossible desire.

So instead, he released the breath neither of them knew he was holding and continued. _"She looked in her twenties, could have gotten plastic surgery. It looked like she had b hair, but I'm guessing it was a wig. And to conclude, the Vauxhall Astra she was driving can't be traced due to her switching the plates with that of a Ford Fiesta. She's untraceable in the system, like a phantom."_ John finished, hoping to God that his info would prove to be enough. At least enough to stop a bullet embedding itself in his skull.

But strangely enough, his superior smiled again. Just as twisted and disturbing as the previous time, like the muscles in his face knew that hapiness didn't deserve to show on a man so twisted in mind. It didn't belong. Like a fox in a chicken coup.

 _"That's what_ _**she**_ _thinks, John. The fact that you do too almost dissapoints me."_ John's breath caught in his throat when his superior spoke, realising that his greatest fear could have come true. His words echoed outwards, carrying the same tone and message that he'd sent to James before his death.

The teen prepared for death, clenching his eyes tightly shut as he prepared to feel a bullet enter his forehead. But instead of hearing metal rip through his skeleton, a low chuckle filled the room. Bringing John's attention back onto the man before him.

 _"I get you're probably tired kid, but try and keep slightly awake, ok?"_ The murderer asked, using a passive and playful manner that simply didn't fit with the teen. He didn't question or pondor why, instead he was simply glad to still be alive.

 _"We're already one step ahead."_ The man continued. _"The fact that her disguise hasn't changed since we took her little 'money box' away, means she doesn't know our plan yet."_

 _"Which is?"_ John asked.

 _"You'll find out. For now, there's some supplies you're going to need. Open the email I'm going to send you, gather anything and everything detailed. For your sake, John, I pray you're up to the task."_ He stated, his words carrying a warning that could not be described with pen or pain. But it shook John to his core.

 _"Yes sir. Consider it done."_ John replied, before the teen immediately excused himself. Taking the first opportunity to try and reach the door before he said something he shouldn't.

 _"Remember John. 'Omega' can't be forgotten."_ His superior called back to him, before the beanie-covered kid ran straight out of the building like a bat out of hell. Reaching the outside to deposit half of his stomach onto the pavement. Said teen's hands unable to stop shaking.

The guy couldn't seem to catch a break.

* * *

 _"Lucas... Where are we going again?"_

 _"We're going to find a shop to find you guys a change of clothes, Marco."_ The teen replied, walking alongside him and others from the group. Going down a small woodland trail, the ground around the path covered with grass, while the trail itself was barren and covered in mud for some areas. However, the route led straight to the high street. Perfect for a group shopping spree. And would also mean the group could avoid any cars, something told him Jean was still weary of them after his little 'incident' involving a Saab and an old man.

 _"Is there something wrong with how we dress?"_ Annie asked, the hostility in her voice clearly showing she'd taken some offense from Lucas' words.

 _"No, of course not!"_ Lucas replied hastily, hoping to avoid taking a kick to the face. _"It's just that people would probably recognise your uniform, so it's best you change your look to try and blend in more."_

 _"Yeah, you have to admit it makes sense... Is there anything major we need to know? Just in case anyone gets suspicious."_ Armin asked the brunette.

 _"Well... Once we've got a change of clothes, it should be easy going. So long as other people keep their distance. But if anyone asks on the way there, you're doing something called 'cosplay', and you're dressed as characters from attack on titan."_ Lucas advised, though if the group's raised eyebrows and confused expressions were anything to go on, they hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about.

 _"What the hell's 'cosplaying' meant to be?"_ Jean asked, clearly irritated from the situation's confusing nature, earning a small glare from Eren in the process. The teen had taken a liking to the group he'd met earlier that week, and didn't appreciate Jean's heavy-handed approach to almost everything.

 _"It's basically when someone dresses up like a famous person, or a fictional character. Doing stuff like dyeing their hair and making costumes."_ Lucas explained carefully, making sure to choose his words carefully as to not needlessly escalate the situation.

 _"Like we did in Manchester last year!"_ Alex stated, re-raising a few eyebrows.

 _"You've... 'Cosplayed' before?"_ Mikasa asked.

 _"Yeah, we've cosplayed once, and that time we were doing characters from something called 'Tokyo ghoul'."_ Lucas confirmed.

 _"Yeah... I looked seriously cool with purple hair!"_

 _"Purple... hair?"_

 _"How the hell do you get purple hair?"_ Ymir asked, as Lucas internally groaned realising that their questions probably wouldn't stop anytime soon.

 _"You can use die on your hair to change its natural colour, from blonde to black for example. You can also try more daring colours like blue or pink."_

 _"People really change their hair like that?" Eren asked._

 _"Yep. Do you really think Alex naturally has cherry-red hair?"_ Lucas rhetorically asked, earning a playful little 'biff' from the red-head.

 _"So... I just been wondering, how many people are alive in the world right now?"_ Armin asked the brunette. _"Just so I can compare it to our current population, our numbers are probably smaller due to our 'Titan' problem."_ The teen speculated, to which Eren's face darkened slightly amongst others. Their minds remembering all the horrors they faced fighting Titans.

 _"I don't know the exact number, but I think it's somewhere around seven and a half billion. Give or take."_ Lucas guessed, raising eyebrows and widening eyes with such a staggering figure.

 _"Seven and a half **Billion!** "_

 _"That's over a hundred times our population!"_

 _"How the hell do you have enough room!?"_

 _"With those numbers, the Titan's wouldn't stand a chance!"_

 _"You're seriously still thinking about Titans!?"_

 _"So what, horse-face!?"_

 _"Bring it on, you suicidal bastard!"_

 _"Everyone, calm down!"_ Lucas yelled out, lowering the voices before continuing at a normal volume. _"As I was saying, there are over seven billion people in the world. There's more than enough room for all of us, so don't worry about space. As for fighting Titan's, it's probably best we push that back for the time being. We'll get a chance to work out how best to fight them, but I have a feeling things will work out._ " Lucas said, unconsciously looking towards the five shifters. Realising that if anyone could give humanity an edge, it would be them.

 _"He's right, you know."_ Annie surprisingly spoke up, turning a few heads in her direction. _"What? We've already seen horseless carriages, self-heating houses and lights that can be turned on and off. Imagine the military power these guys have."_ The blonde pointed out, while the rest of the group looked on.

 _"That... Was pretty smart, Annie."_ Reiner pointed out.

 _"Y-yeah, that was pretty clever."_ Berthold added, while Annie just rolled her eyes at her two fellow 'warriors', before her face returned to its natural bored expression.

 _"We should probably push on. Asda's just up ahead."_ Harry pointed out, moving down the trail.

 _"Just for context, 'Asda' is what's called a superstore, basically a shop that has a little of everything. Food, clothes, tools. You name it."_ Lucas stated, before following his friend. To which the rest followed suit. Remaining in silent, save for the occasional whisper.

* * *

 _'What. In the actual ass.'_

John had reluctantly opened the small list from his superior, expecting to find components for something sinister. Like a make-shift chainsaw, or a hangman's noose. But the list was one of the more bizarre things he'd seen.

\- Plastic wire strippers.

\- Metal ball bearings, size B.

\- One 'my first chemistry kit'.

\- A pack of cornetto's.

It made no sense. One of the more terrifying people in life, the man who'd gunned down his entire social circle, had sent him shopping for junk.

The teen didn't contemplate, instead placing a focus on finding the few items on the list. For his own sake. Eventually finding everything scattered throughout the store, before excusing himself to the rest room. Taking one of the vacant stalls once knowing it was empty. And found himself unable to avoid breaking down. The past two days had abandoned him in a dark place. With no-one to turn to. Not a friend left in the world. It was like the universe had taken it upon himself to make his life miserable. Maybe it was karma for everything he and his friends had put people through.

But still, a part of him wished he'd never been born.

After removing his beanie, the close-cut raven-head cried out into it. Not wanting to deal with anyone's sympathy for something they didn't understand. Which brought the teen to stifle his cries upon hearing the bathroom door open. Listening out to hear a small trickle pour from a tap opposite him, before the room went silent. The silence was soon broken by the sound of soft crying, John covered his mouth to avoid being found, but soon realised it wasn't him crying.

He jarred the door open slightly, to see the newcomer hunched over the sink. Crying out while the world moved on. John didn't know why he opened the door fully, or why he called out to the stranger. Maybe his mind was sick of seeing things go to shit. Maybe, he just wanted to do something good for once. Begin to atone for his sins.

But when the teen turned around, John found himself looking at the absolute last person he wanted to see.

* * *

 _"Hopefully, there's something here that will suit you."_ Lucas stated as he walked onto one of the main clothing isles. Said isle had shelves full of men's/boy's clothes. From jeans and t-shirts, to hoodies and trainers. Perfect for a temporary disguise. He and Harry had volunteered to help the guys find something while Alex showed the girls around.

Mainly because Alex wasn't big on Men's wear, but also because Lucas and Harry couldn't tell one style from the other. They knew more about fighting Titans than fashion.

 _"Anything you can recommend?"_ Reiner asked as he eyed one of the black leather jackets on display.

 _"The best way to remain incognito is to look like everyone else our age. Save for a few details, here and there."_ Lucas replied, coming to a halt before turning to the rest of the group.

 _"So... Like you and Harry, then?"_ Armin theorised.

Lucas nodded in reply, confirming his assumption before elaborating further. _"Most people our age wear shoes called 'trainers', made for comfort and running. For pants they put on jeans made of denim, before finishing off with a hoodie and a T-shirt."_

 _"T... Shirt?_ Eren asked, clearly confused while Jean rolled his eyes earning a small glare from the brunette.

 _"It's like a regular shirt, except the sleeves only go halfway to your elbows."_ Lucas explained as he removed his blue hoodie to reveal a superman T-shirt before gesturing for Harry to follow suit. Said teen stripped himself of his brown jumper, revealing his shirt to be white and bland in comparison.

 _"What's that symbol on your shirt?"_ Marco asked, gesturing towards the shield on Lucas' chest.

 _"It's from an old movie called 'Superman', hence the large 'S' on the front. It's about a superhero with amazing abilities, who uses them to protect innocent people from evil."_

 _"Sounds pretty cool."_ Eren stated. _"Would be nice to have someone like that on the team."_ The brunette pointed out, to which Lucas had to surpress a small giggle from appearing.

 _'If only he knew.'_ The teen thought to himself, before bringing his mind back to the present. Adressing the group with a brief set of instructions. _"I recomend you find a decent set of Jeans, grab some trainers, pick a hoodie and decide on a shirt. It should be enough to blend in for now."_

 _"Consider it done. We'll be ready within a few minutes."_ Reiner stated, grabbing a green hoodie as he did so.

 _"K. You guys get changed quickly, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm just going to the loo quickly."_

 _"What's a 'loo'?"_

 _"British slang for a toilet. Let me know if I miss anything!"_ Lucas called back to the group as he began the journey to the lavatory towards the back, ironically placed by the medicine shelf stocked to the brim with laxatives. He couldn't help but remember a particularly cruel prank from the previous summer involving Alex, a bully and a laced ham and cheese sandwich. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy cleaning the bathroom that day.

The teen stepped into said bathroom before doing his... business at the urinal. He then stepped up to the sink and cleansed his hands noting the fact that only one of the stalls was occupied, before looking back to his reflection in the mirror. Checking to see how visible his lack of sleep showed.

Except, things weren't as simple as that. As the teen hadn't actually looked into the mirror for weeks. Partly due to inconvenience, but mainly due to the fact he couldn't bear to look at himself. Because every time Lucas looked into his reflection, all he saw was the same curly brown hair. The oval-shaped head, the oh-so familiar forehead much larger than the standard. Whenever Lucas looked at himself, all he saw was his Dad. The same features, passed down through the generations.

Genetics really were a bitch.

The teen tried to suppress the urge to sob, but the pain and grief made themselves too known in Lucas' mind. Causing a few trickling tears to fall down his face. As Lucas hunched over the sink, all the grieving thoughts and regretful decisions returned. He found himself back in the pit he'd dug in his mind over the previous month. He'd tried to get out, but couldn't bring himself to throw away the shovel.

He continued to cry as he heard a voice call out to him, before hastily wiping away the tears on his face. He turned around to face the newcomer, before looking at the last person he wanted to see.


	14. Bathroom incident

Chapter 14: Bathroom incident

 **A/N: Hey guys! As we continue with the story, there's several questions that must be asked. To make sure the story comes out in the best way possible.**

 **Q1: Are there any other characters you want to hear from?**

 **Q2: How many chapters would you like this new arc to last?**

 **Q3: Are there any other franchises you want mentioned? If so, what?**

 **There will be polls set up ready, and I'll keep an eye on the results before any decisions are made. Alternatively, feel free to just PM me any questions, queries, comments or insults. (Preferebly no insults.)**

 **I await your decisions, and I'll see you next update!**

 **P.s: I know I sometimes spell names differently, like Krista/Christa or Bertholt/Berthold, but I can't really decide which is right so I end up alternating. That way everyone's happy.**

* * *

Meanwhile...

 _"So... Is there a reason people can see my stomach?"_ Krista asked the red-head who was holding up a crop-top to the blonde. While Lucas had focused on helping the guys out, she'd been trying to find clothes that suited the girls. And up to that point, things could have gone better. But could also have gone a lot worse.

She'd sorted Sasha out pretty quickly, finding her a medium-sized olive green skirt coupled with a small shirt saying "I 'moustache' you a question, but I'll 'shave' it for later." Her fellow red-head had chuckled for a good few minutes before deciding on that and a small set of black shoes. Alex tried not to groan at the joke, having heard it a million times before. But instead went along with it.

Ymir was pretty easy to sort too, donning a pair of navy-blue jeans with a black T-shirt and denim blue jacket with matching trainers. But for the others... Things were difficult to say the least. Mikasa and Annie weren't overly enthused about clothes, both going for a simple shirt, jeans and trainers combo. And Krista could pull off pretty much any look she wanted! Making the job of finding a style difficult to say the least.

 _"Not really. It's mostly just for fashion."_ Alex replied, taking away the piece of clothing from off her chest before placing it back on the shelf. " _It doesn't really suit you anyway, so let's try something else."_

 _"What about that shirt you're wearing?"_ Ymir asked.

 _"What about it?"_

 _"Does everyone wear shirts like that, or is it just you?"_

 _"Well... It depends on who you ask. Some people wear T-shirts, others just go for plain dresses."_

 _"Whatever, Krista looks great in pretty much anything."_ Ymir half complimented, half bragged as she draped her arm around Krista's frail frame.

"S-stop it, Ymir!" Christa gently protested, her playful tone bringing a small smirk to the brunette.

 _"So... Any more ideas?"_ Alex asked the group, before noticing that Annie had spaced out as she looked towards a particular jacket. _"Something catch your eye?"_ The red-head asked, snapping the teen out of her stupor.

 _"Nothing much."_ The blonde replied, her face returning to a stoic expression.

 _"You know... If leather jackets are your style, I'm sure Lucas wouldn't mind if you tried one on."_ Alex suggested to her friend, taking it down from the display and holding it up to the blonde beside her, said blonde raised an eyebrow at the girl's actions. _"Come on, you'll look awesome with it on!"_ She pleaded, before her friend eventually caved in as she walked towards the changing rooms.

 _"Where's Annie going?"_ Christa asked, having overheard their conversation.

 _"Just... Trying a new look, I guess."_ Alex told her, unable to suppress a small smile that came on her face. _'It's nice to see Annie's taking a little pride in her appearance. It's probably going this well for Lucas and the guys, right? Why wouldn't it be?'_

* * *

Lucas and John stood a mere meter apart, staring at each other in fear like stags in headlights. Before they eventually broke out of their stupors and reacted. Lucas brought his hands up and shifted his footing, moving into a make-shift fighting stance that resembled a mix of boxing and Annie's technique, though he didn't realise in the slightest. While the younger teen before him instead shielded his face, bringing his arms up to protect his visage.

 _"Don't! Please don't!"_ The shorter of the two called out, facing away from the teen as he covered his face. While Lucas looked on bearing a confused expression.

 _"Don't... What?"_ The brunette asked confused, the situation having moved from a recreation of Rocky 3 to the usual sight of a bully standing over a nerd. Only this time, in a twisted change of fate, the roles seemed to have reversed themselves.

 _"Please... I don't want to fight anymore."_ John replied, holding back tears as he squatted on the seat. _"I'm... Done with fighting you."_

 _"Why? Has James finally matured enough to think with his head instead of his fists?"_ The brunette remarked, but was soon filled with instant regret as he saw a look in John's eyes. One he knew all too well...

 _"No, It's just..."_ The delinquent trailed off, hesitant to explain before he gathered a breath and reattempted an explanation. _"James went missing. Along with everyone else sometime yesterday, while I'd called home to help my dad."_ He elaborated, letting the lie roll of his tongue the same way it had the several dozen times he'd told it. To the cops, the detectives. To James' parents of all people. It still made a hole in his mind, knowing that they'd been brought into it for no good reason. _"No-one's seen or heard from him since yesterday afternoon."_

 _"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."_ The teen spoke, his defensive tone shifting to a more relaxed and sympathetic role. While his stance followed suit, lowering his arms to the side and shifting his feet back to a normal position.

 _"You're... You're serious?"_

 _"Why wouldn't I be?"_ He asked, moving towards one of the hand dryers.

 _"Oh, I don't know... Maybe because they were the ones making your life a living hell the past year."_ John suggested, sarcasm practically coating his voice.

 _"Well... Yeah. They're still human beings, regardless of what they did. There's no reason to treat them as anything less."_ Lucas spoke sincerely, his voice carrying a certain sense of humanity that was clearly lacking in the teen's boss. Striking a chord that the raven-head didn't even know existed.

 _"That's... Not a bad way of seeing things, I guess."_ John replied, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

 _"Yeah... It has its moments."_ Lucas responded, walking towards the door as if to leave before turning back towards the now standing 'frenemy'. _"What are you doing here anyway? Out of interest."_

 _"Grabbing stuff for my dad's DIY project. We're working on his car over the next week."_ John replied, fighting off the sudden urge to shudder as he thought back to his 'employer'. The impulse goaded on by the air conditioning's cold chill in the air.

 _"Well... That explain the ball bearings and the plastic wire cutters. But wouldn't it be better to buy metal ones? I've heard the cheap plastic ones start to melt if you get close to the engine."_

 _"How do you know so much about cars? No offense, but you don't look like the mechanic type."_

 _"None taken."_ Lucas responded with a small chuckle. _"It's because of my... My dad. He owned an old American chopper bike that we used to work on together every other day."_

 _"Why did you stop working on it?"_ John asked, as he witnessed the teen's look slowly shift to its earlier state.

 _"He... He passed away a few months ago. The bike's pretty much just gathering rust at this point."_ Lucas stated coldly, his voice lacking the emotion and fire it had held earlier. Turning both their moods melancholy

 _"I'm... I'm sorry."_

 _"Don't be. You weren't the guy that killed him, it's not your fault."_

 _"Not about that."_ John said, raising Lucas' eyebrow in the process. _"Not that I'm not sorry about that! I mean, I am. It's just..."_ John sighed in defeat, before restarting his explanation _. "I'm sorry that we... Kept hurting you like that without realising what you were going through. It was a shitty thing to do, I'm sorry."_ John apologised, looking towards the teen with a concerned face, the exact opposite of the norm. Unable to ignore the growing feelings of nausea in his stomach

 _"Forget about it. It's in the past."_

 _"Really? How are you forgiving me this easily?"_

 _"It's partly due to the fact that I've got more important things on my plate, but mainly because I could always tell you weren't always out to get me like the others were. Hence why you hung at the back most days, and let everyone else do the punching and kicking."_ Lucas said, widening the teen's eyes slightly before he vacated the bathroom with a small hurry. Leaving John alone with his thoughts.

 _'Maybe... Maybe I could tell him.'_ The teen thought to himself, but soon dismissed the idea as he grabbed the bag and left. _'No. No way. A friendly attitude can't stop a bullet. Plus, I think he's been through enough.'_

* * *

 _"So, how did it go?"_

 _"Pretty well... Annie managed to find herself a cool new look."_ Alex spoke, telling Lucas about the girl's shopping spree. _"It suits her too, I never knew leather was her style."_

 _"Not bad... We've mostly just gone with a T-shirt, hoodies, trainers and jeans."_ Lucas told the red-head. _"Except Marco found a decent cap and Reiner found himself a brown jacket instead of a hoodie."_

 _"Did the jeans happen to be Levi's?"_ Alex asked, unable to repress the cheesy grin on her face. While Lucas groaned both internally and externally. _"What?"_

 _"That pun was unbearable. Even by your standards."_ Lucas said, a small smile on his face.

 _"Fine! Fine."_ Alex chuckled out in defeat. _"So, are we buying our stuff and bailing?"_

 _"Not yet. There's two things left to do first."_ Lucas said, before he headed off towards a separate isle with Alex in tow. Darting between the brightly lit displays before finally arriving in the electronics section. Full of hardware and disc cases. All filled with movies, shows and games.

 _"I'm guessing that we're going for the series on disc?"_ Alex asked, thinking she could see Lucas' train of thought.

 _"Not really. We've already got Netflix, so there isn't much point there. But, it would help to see another example of animation, wouldn't you think?"_

 _"Awesome!"_ The redhead spoke excitedly, her eyes darting between the choice of shows and movies. _"Should we maybe go for a DreamWorks movie?"_

 _"Probably not. They won't get most of the references."_

 _"Then, why not Pixar?"_

 _"Tempting, but computer animation is on a whole new level. They won't be prepared for it."_

 _"In that case, what **should** we go for." _Alex asked, while Lucas ran the different options in his head. Shooting down every option that presented itself. _'X-men? No, superheroes are cool but not the best start for movie watchers. It? Never again, I still can't look at clowns the same way after last time. Maybe Tron? Never mind, way too complicated.'_ The teen continued to think, slowly running out of pathways to take. Before he zeroed in on the perfect choice.

A bright yellow case, with a smiling brown mouse pictured on the front. With the words 'Tom and Jerry' printed at the top in a bendy cartoon font. Lucas reached out for the item, taking it in his hand before placing it into Alex's trolley. _"Is that the one?"_ The red-head asked.

 _"Definitely. Remember the time we binge-watched it two years ago? You literally passed out on the floor from laughing."_ Lucas recounted, gaining a small chuckle from his friend.

 _"Well... You're not wrong."_ Alex agreed with a chuckle. _"What was the second thing we needed?"_

 _"We need to settle down in the café for a few minutes."_ Lucas said, walking back towards the group in the clothes isle while Alex followed closely behind. _"I owe a certain blonde a few donuts."_

 **A/N: To those of you who noticed the late update, I'm so sorry about it! Working on holiday was frustrating at best, with little time to write and about twenty minutes of wifi at best. As an apology, I'll be uploading the next chapter sooner. To apologise for this chapter being later.**


	15. A bite to eat

Attack on titan in real life: a new world.

Chapter 15: A bite to eat.

Overall, the shopping spree had gone well. At least in Lucas' mind, it had.

The trainees had all bought new sets of clothes, ready to change into once they made it home. (They chose to remain in uniform for the time being). And Lucas had solved at least one of his problems, after a small 'chat' with John had landed him hopefully in the teen's good books. So all in all, a good day thus far. Yet things didn't stop there, as a certain promise of donuts ended up bringing the group to a small bakery. One of the smaller shops, with about seven tables inside selling pastries capable of making anyone drool. The quality and atmosphere seemed to breathe quality over quantity. Inviting them to take a seat and relax.

Which resulted in the group splitting off into small cliques, with Lucas, Harry and Alex taking a small table by the window. Eren, Mikasa and Armin chose a table by the wall and the bathroom. Jean, Marco, and Sasha split off to a space by the counter. Where Sasha ended up locking eyes with a set of cakes on display. Reiner, Bertholt and Annie found a place out of sight for the most part. Whereas Ymir was indifferent about her seat. Providing it was with a certain petite blonde beside her.

They leaned back into their chairs as they glanced at the menu, before a single waitress came from behind the counter to collect their orders, dashing between the groups like a bat out of hell. A small smile on the aged woman's face sealing the deal for a massive purchase. Each group placed a small order, receiving their drinks within a few minutes, and proceeded to relax and talk. A nice change of pace from the usual hustle and bustle of military/school life. A chance to talk, or in Lucas' case, space out.

 _"Err, Lucas. You there bud?"_ Harry asked, bringing the brunet back to reality.

 _"Yeah? What's up?"_ Lucas replied, snapping his focus back to his two companions.

 _"Are you sure it's ok for you to spend so much money?"_

 _"Yeah, it wasn't too much."_

 _"Lucas, that receipt was longer than my arm."_ Alex pointed out with a chuckle, which her friends soon reciprocated.

 _"Fine... It was a fair amount of money. But it was a one time thing. The guys needed fresh clothes, asap. Odds are someone would have recognised their uniforms, and sooner or later put two and two together."_

 _"Well, you're not wrong. But was the whole bakery thing really necessary?"_

 _"I did promise Annie, so it was only fair. Plus, I'd like to retain the use of my kneecaps."_ Lucas chuckled, before continuing. "Anyway, while it's just us two I need to discuss a few ground rules for the time being."

 _"But Lucassss... Rules are boring!"_ Alex moaned out, leaning back in her chair. _"And they usually make no sense."_

 _"There's only going to be three, so it could be worse."_ Lucas pointed out, making sure he'd caught the pair's attention before he continued. _"One. We don't tell them what would have happened in their universe. At least not yet."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"They'd find it hard to believe anything we tell them. Five of them happen to be titan shifters, one of them should have died early on, one has a fake name, and two either have or will lose most of their family."_

 _"Fair point, I guess."_

 _"Rule two, we explain modern stuff slowly and carefully to them. They've not even cracked Morse code yet, let alone phones. So we need to be careful how we introduce things to them."_ Lucas instructed, silence met him before he moved on to his final point. _"And third, no tumblr, wattpad, fanfiction or deviantart."_

 _"Awww... But they make great stuff..."_

 _"They also make bizarre pairings and insensitive jokes. It would be a pretty crappy thing to do to them."_

 _"Imagine if Levi found out. We'd probably have to hide his swords."_

 _"That wouldn't work. He could kill everyone on the planet with a thimble."_ Lucas joked, earning a giggle from the red-head. He was about to continue, before he noticed that Harry had started glancing out of the window. Seemingly into space. Lucas considered re-grabbing his attention, until he saw exactly who Harry was looking at. A standing pair, a teen and an old-ish looking man out on the street. The younger had chocolate brown skin, with raven black hair concealed for the most part under a beanie. Not exactly someone who stood out. The older man, however, was completely conspicuous. Wearing a fedora and trenchcoat that stood out like a sore thumb. Standing with the physique of a man half his age. Despite his weathered face hinting at his decades of experience.

 _"Isn't that one of James' friends?"_ Harry asked, breaking the small silence that had settled.

 _"Yeah, the guy's called John."_ Lucas pointed out, earning a raised eyebrow from his fellow teen. _"What? We're in the same English class."_

 _"Yeah, but... He and James keep tormenting you for no good reason."_ Harry stated, surprised at the friendly way he'd addressed the teen.

 _"Well... We've talked for a few minutes, and it turns out he's not actually a bad guy."_

 _"When were you talking? Was it during your fight yesterday?"_

 _"No, it was earlier. In the Asda bathroom."_

 _"He didn't try anything, did he?"_ Alex asked, unable to hide the venom in her voice.

 _"No. He didn't. From the way he spoke, he actually sounded like a decent guy. Plus, James wasn't around meaning he didn't have to fight me."_

 _"Where is James anyway?"_ Harry asked, noticing him and his cronies were no where in sight.

 _"From what I've heard, he's gone missing, along with the rest of his friends. Even John doesn't know where they've gone."_

 _"Well... If I said he'dllbe missed, I'd be lying."_ Alex stated, coldly. And while Lucas didn't care for her phrasing, he did silently agree to the thought of his tormentor being gone.

 _"What about the guy he's talking to?"_ Harry asked, looking towards the two with a mask of suspicion on his face.

 _"You mean the 1920's gangster? Odds are he's saying stuff like 'yous guys', or 'listen here, see'."_ Alex joked with a small giggle, trying to lighten the mood a little.

 _"Can't say I know him. He's probably his dad."_

 _"No, it probably isn't. They look nothing alike. Plus, he's supposed to be meeting his dad at home for a DIY project."_ Lucas pointed out, eyeing the small bag he'd seen John leave with in Asda. Still bulging with its contents. Only to watch the teen hand over its closed contents into the stranger's hands. He guessed that supposed 'project', wasn't as real as he'd thought. He was about to address the abnormality, before he saw Alex bring a light red phone up to her ear. _'Who's that?'_ The teen mouthed to her, to which she raised a single finger, gesturing towards the man outside.

 _"It's for him. It's some guy going by the name 'Al Capone'," Alex joked, shifting her voice into a typical twenties american. "He wants his fedora back, before he makes him sleep with the fishes..."_ She continued, breaking down in low laughter before she'd even finished. Harry laughed along with her, but all Lucas could focus on was that bag, now in the gangster's hands. Nothing in it made sense. Ball bearings were random, only useful for car repairs and random projects. The cheap wire strippers could have been bought for anything, and who was the chemistry set for? Probably for the same person as the cornetto's.

If all of that wasn't for a DIY project, then what could it be for?

* * *

 _"Eren, how is your leg feeling?"_ Mikasa asked the brunet, placing her hand on his shoulder. Only for him to shrug the concerns off.

 _"Relax. It's just a sprain, I'll be fine. The brace is still holding up, and it feels better than ever."_ Eren told the raven-head, ignoring her worried look.

 _"As I was saying."_ Armin restarted, hoping to change the subject. _"There's so much we don't understand about this world, the economy will be entirely different without the space restrictions of the wall. Government influence could have changed in several ways, without the apocalypse's influence. And they're centuries ahead in terms of technology."_

 _"Maybe... Some of their tech could be used to fight Titans."_ Eren optimistically thought aloud.

 _"Maybe... Maybe not..."_

 _"We shouldn't think about that now. It's not the time for that."_ Mikasa interrupted, turning Eren's gaze towards her.

 _"What... Are you saying we should just abandon everyone in out world to the Titans' wrath!?"_ Eren angrily spat out.

 _"There's no guarantee we'll ever make it back, so it's not important until we find out later."_ Mikasa stated, though Eren retained his annoyed expression.

 _"She's right, you know. None of us know how we got here, not even Lucas. So we can't find out how the whole process works. We're stuck here, whether we like it or not."_ Armin pointed out, Eren's scowl fading away as he spoke. _"Speaking of Lucas, what do you think's happened to him?"_ Armin asked, changing the subject a second time while he glanced towards said teen.

 _"What do you mean? He seems like a stand-up guy. Not just anyone invites strangers into their own home, plus he's helped us out plenty of times since yesterday."_ Eren pointed out, following Armin's glance towards the teen.

 _"That's not what he meant."_ Mikasa pointed out.

 _"What I meant was how he's acted in certain moments."_

 _"What moments?"_ Eren asked, not following his train of thought.

 _"Do you remember when he was looking at those pictures last night? How he started to cry when we mentioned his father?"_

 _"Why would that... Oh."_ Eren questioned, before catching up to Armin's train of thought.

 _"Yeah. My guess, is that his father's either left or died recently. And he's still coming to terms with it."_

 _"There was something that Alex had started to say last night. Something about Lucas opting out of certain activities and events. She didn't say why, but odds are it was something along those lines."_ Mikasa stated.

 _"Yeah. You're probably right."_ Eren replied, unable to shake a feeling of pity that gathered for the brunet sat away from him. He knew how it felt to lose someone you loved, especially a parent. It wasn't easy in the slightest. At least he'd found something to focus his grief on at the time, learning to fight Titans had been a good outlet for him. The brunet couldn't help but wonder about trying to help his new-found friend, maybe a few words here and there to help him come to terms. _'It would at least be a start on everything we owe him.'_

 _"Wait... Who's that?"_ Armin asked, his gaze having switched from the teen to a pair gathered outside of the window. Both differed largely in age, and the older man was wearing a trench coat and fedora in the middle of summer. At least, the blond guessed it was summer. For all he knew, the part of the world they were in could go through many more seasons. Or even skip changes entirely, and stay consistent all year round.

 _"I don't know. I think I've seen him before."_ Eren said, gesturing towards the smaller of the two.

 _"That's one of the guys who attacked us yesterday. Back in the alley."_ Armin pointed out.

 _"I'll be back in a moment."_ Mikasa stated, her voice hiding a deadly anger as she rose from her seat.

"Mikasa! Now isn't the time for that." Armin said, attempting to reason with the raven-head. _"He probably hasn't come to fight, he's not with the group from yesterday and hasn't come inside. Odds are it's just a coincidence."_

 _"I wouldn't be so sure."_ Mikasa said, flatly. Returning to her seat. _"Can you see the bulge in the man's jacket side? Looks a lot like a firearm to me."_ Mikasa theorised, looking at how the bulge seemed to curve to the shape of his weapon, a standard pistol for the most part. Not exactly something you'd carry for everyday life.

 _"Yeah. Are people_ allowed _to just carry around guns like that? Why?"_ Eren asked, slightly frustrated at the thought of someone killing an innocent person.

 _"We're best off asking Lucas that, he'll probably know."_ Armin theorised, his gaze leaving the pair to look at the brunet sat mere meters away. Who also happened to be looking beyond the window, towards the mysterious twosome.

In the blonde's mind, however, he already had a decent guess as to why people would carry guns around. As without Titans giving humanity a common enemy, there wouldn't be a necessity for everyone to unify under one flag. There would be disputes, fighting, war. In a way it was inevitable, it was simple human nature to try and fight everything. Even each other.

Ironic, the only thing in his world that stopped Humans from annihilating each other were literal monsters. Meaning that for humanity to survive, they'd have to find something else to destroy other that each other. _'What has this world had to destroy to give in to peace?'_ Armin thought to himself, hoping he wouldn't regret the answer.

* * *

 _"Sasha, can you quit drooling on the glass? You'll land us all in trouble at this rate."_ Jean stated bluntly, never one for subtlety. Though Sasha didn't seem to notice, as she continued to eye the trays of desserts in the display case with an un-satisfiable hunger.

 _"She's not doing any harm, so there's no reason to worry."_ Marco reasoned with his friend, though Jean rolled his eyes in response.

 _"I'm not so sure the staff will see it that way. Especially with the mass of spit she's leaving behind."_

 _"I think you're worrying too much Jean, there's no reason to play the pessimist."_ Marco pointed out, letting a small chuckle escape as he did so.

 _"Seriously? If anyone's the pessimist here, it's you."_ The horse-face retorted.

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Remember this morning? All you could think about was your family back home."_

 _"Well, what's wrong with that?"_ The freckled teen asked, undeniably confused.

 _"We've ended up in a world full of technology, and not a titan in sight. Perfect for living the easy life. And you think about how to get home. Why?"_ Jean asked, not bothering to mask the agitation in his tone.

 _"Because it's just not right for us to leave them to suffer while we're having it easy. They're human beings, like us."_

 _"Well... What are you gonna do? We're stuck here, and they're back there. We may as well be outside the walls at this point, we're that far away from them."_ Jean pointed out. As the table's conversation all but fell apart. The only sounds being the chatting of other patrons and the occasional 'ding' of the cash machine.

 _"Do you really think there's no way back?"_ Marco asked, eventually breaking the silence.

Jean sighed heavily, before looking back to his freckled friend. _"You're asking the wrong person, no-one here has a clue. And neither do I."_

 _"Maybe Lucas would know-"_

 _"He already said."_ Jean interrupted. _"He's as clueless as we all are."_

 _"Well... Odds are we can-"_

 _"That's weird."_ Marco was interrupted by the sound of Sasha's voice, turning the pair to look at her.

 _"What are you talking about?"_ Jean asked, before following the red-head's gaze to look outside the café. He laid eyes on an albeit unusual pair. One dressed for winter and the other for a warm summer. Drastically conflicted in both attire and age.

 _"I never knew you could have black skin."_ Sasha pointed out, drawing attention to the smaller of the two.

 _"That is interesting..."_ Marco contemplated, before turning back to face the two. _"But there's something else we need to focus on."_

 _"Huh?"_ Jean turned around, not catching on to Marco's train of thought.

 _"Until we figure out what's happening to us, we need to keep a sharp eye on everyone here."_

 _"Everyone?"_

 _"...No, not everyone."_ Marco eventually realised. _"We can trust the people that came with us. They obviously couldn't have brought us here. But there's no telling who did. It could be anyone here."_ The teen pointed out, unknowingly glancing over the crowd as he spoke.

 _"What about Lucas? Does he seem trust-worthy to you?"_ Jean asked, looking at said teen as he spoke.

 _"I... Don't-"_

 _"Yes."_ Sasha interrupted, tearing herself away from the display to face her comrades. _"I trust him."_ She replied confidently.

 _"Why? We know next to nothing about him."_ Jean doubted, to which Sasha shook her head.

 _"You'd be surprised. If what he's said and how he's helped us are anything to go off, we'll be fine for sure."_ Sasha told the two.

 _"What he's said?"_ Jean repeated in response, a confused expression on his face.

 _"We... Talked this morning. Before everyone else got up. He opened up a little and from what I've heard he's fine."_ She admitted, though chose out some of the more sensitive details.

 _"Well... I'm not going to jump to conclusions."_ Marco resolved, as Sasha returned once again to fantasize over the display. _"What's the worse that could happen?"_

 _"We're all killed and forgotten in a world far away from our own?"_

 _"Jean... Now isn't the time for joking-"_

 _"Who said I was?"_ Jean asked the teen, to which he had no answer.

* * *

(WMTM = Wall Maria's time master.)

WMTM: _"So you're probably wondering why I've been ghosting for a few months now."_

Alex: _"That makes a reader's community plus one. Do you know how annoying it is staying stuck in one chapter for several months straight?"_

Harry: _"Well... It could be worse. At least we didn't end up stuck in an action scene. That would have been tiring."_

Lucas: _"Odds are we won't even get an action scene. We're not **that** kind of fanfiction."_

WMTM: _"You are right about that. Mostly..."_

Eren: _"What do you mean 'mostly'?"_

WMTM: _"But I do have reasons for why I've been absent for a while."_

Annie: _"Excuses excuses..."_

Mikasa: _"Annie..."_

Lucas: _"Please don't fight. It's rare that any of us get to break the fourth wall. So we should make the most of it while we can."_

WMTM: _"Well put Lucas."_

Lucas: _"Thanks I guess..."_

WMTM: _"As I was saying, things have been hectic since starting college two months ago. Things seemed to be going well, at least for the first week or two. But then... The work piled up and up until I was drowning in it."_

Connie: _"I'm pretty sure you can't drown in paper, dude."_

Sasha: _"It's just a metaphor."_

Connie: _"Oh. Sorry, I'll just let you keep going then."_

WMTM: _"Thanks. And things kept getting more and more heated every week. Leaving me with either no time for writing, or too tired to write. Leaving my account in a limbo style state."_

Armin: _"Meaning we've been stuck shopping in that store for months."_

WMTM: _"That being said I'm not leaving fanfics entirely. It just means I'll have to only write during the half term breaks. These last for about a week, so I'll have plenty of time to write for both of my main stories."_

Lucas: _"Meaning you can expect an upload every six weeks."_

WMTM: _"Hopefully. But I'm not making any promises."_

Mikasa: _"So what happens now?"_

WMTM: _"You guys wait for the next chapter. It shouldn't feel like too long."_

Harry: _"Fair enough. Just don't keep us waiting forever."_

WMTM: _"I'll try."_

Lucas: _"Alright then. We'll see you all in a bit."_

Everyone (save for a few you can probably guess): _"Bye!"_

WMTM: *Waits for everyone else to leave.* _"Oh and by the way, two more things to address before I finish._

 _First, thanks for the reviews. They've really been a help in finding mistakes and problems with writing, meaning less people end up in a permanent state of cringe._

 _And secondly, thanks for the poll votes. It's been helping the chapter decisions easier. And so far the results are as follows:_

 _Hanji: 3_

 _Erwin: 3_

 _Petra: 3_

 _Squad Levi: 2_

 _No-one else: 0_

 _And last, but not least;_

 _Levi: 2?_

 _Really? I figured he'd have way more votes than everyone else..._

 _I guess that means Hanji, Erwin and Petra are the most likely to appear in the future. As for Levi and his squad..."_

Levi: _"What do you mean, brat?"_

WMTM: *Falls off chair screaming* _"What the hell? You're not even in the fic yet, how are you here?"_

Levi: _"Do you even need to ask?"_

WMTM: _"Well... Yeah."_

Levi: *Sigh* _"I'm Levi. I come as a package bundle. Attack on Titan doesn't exist without me."_

WMTM: _"Does that mean you're... Package-sized?"_

Levi: _"..."_

WMTM: _"..."_

Levi: _"Run."_

WMTM: _"Well... I'm kind of the author, so you can't hurt me-"_

Levi: _"Run, brat!"_

WMTM: *Starts running for the hills* _"Well, thanks for the reviews and everything. So I'll see you guys next chance, I guess. Providing captain Levi doesn't catch me fir- OH GOD, HE'S FOUND THE BLADES!"_

Levi: _"Let's see how fast you can run for your life, runt!"_

WMTM: _"HELP MEEEE!"_

* * *

 **Please review~**


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